The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

The introduction to this book is written by David Mitchell, best known as the author of "The Cloud Atlas".  A less well known aspect of his life is that he is the parent of a child with autism.  His wife is Japanese, and she read this book, written by a Japanese teenager about his perspectives on the experience of having autism, and she shared the book with her husband.  For them, it was life transforming book.  It allowed them to experience the world through their son's eyes and to have a window of understanding into what it was like to be him and why he did the things that he does.

I am not a parent of an autistic child, but then autism is a spectrum disorder, and so there are many people in my life who live along that spectrum.  It was a simple and yet complicated book to read.  Simple in that it is very short and  is written as a question and answer book, by and large--Why do you run away?  Why do you ask the same question over and over again?  Those questions are followed by thoughts about where the behavior comes from and why it is necessary or comforting.  It is complicated because it is very clear that there are things that the author feels very strongly but has a hard time expressing.  Verbal language is not a a strength, nor is he physically affectionate, so in some ways he is trapped within himself without a means of showing how much he cares about things and people.  The thing that spoke to me in a loud and clear voice is that while special needs people learn differently and that it takes them more time, they appreciate their teachers.  They yearn to learn, and they need teachers with patience to teach them until they get it right--but once they have it, it is there forever.