QUESTIONS ABOUT AUTISM ANSWERED BY AN AUTISTIC PERSON. (2)

Questions about autism answered by an autistic person. “The difference in the words that they ask us to say, the questions that we can repeat, and their answer which we already know, can be a pleasure based in a game of sound and rhythm.” With this very simple but at the same time complex response, Naoki Higashida answers to the question of why autistic people repeat the same questions over and over again. And he knows this because he has been diagnosed with ASD. Naoki’s story talks about self-improvement because he was able to find a way to express, regardless of a severe autism diagnosis, though letter cards that he uses to form words. At age 13 he wrote the book “The reason why I jump”  (“La razón por la que salto”) where he spends a little over one page explaining to his readers the way in which thinks, revealing that profound, mysterious place where autistic live. There are many types of books about autism. In the introduction to Naoki’s book, David Mitchell, who translated the original one to English, classifies with humor some of them. He is quite clear: don’t expect advise on how to take care of your child, self-help or exercises or no one’s biography. In Michell’s words, by reading it you will be able to understand what goes on inside their heads. It is a direct version, written in the first person and literally, word by word of what an autistic thinks.  Reading it, like Naoki wishes in the preface, is a “nice journey into their world”. But in Naoki’s world because we cannot forget that every autistic person is different. They have some things in common but Naoki sometimes says that certain things don’t happen to him as they do with other autistic persons. The only advantage of this young author is his and his mother’s perseverance which have allowed him to express and being able to write, something that unfortunately not every autistic can achieve.In  “The reason why I jump”, he responds to 53 questions that wander the minds of whom is penetrating into the world of autism. For example, why do autistics talk funny? Why do they do things that they are not supposed to do? Why can’t they maintain a normal conversation? Do they like physical contact? Easy answers, almost obvious, but full of sense. The literary critics say that this is a mix between a diary and an essay, but we are not here to judge the quality of his prose or praise the work behind the book. Naoki has found his voice and uses it to inform Japan about autism. He even has a blog where he continues to write.