#25

#25 interrupted a book ~ which I think I need to mention ~ because I think the next book I have on hold will interrupt it & I might actually want to go back & read it ~ summer breeze by nancy thayer.  Anyway, book #25 is The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida.  Naoki was 13 when he wrote this book.  He used a special computer and alphabet grid to write it because he is a non-verbal boy with autism.  He is so well 'spoken', with such a clear understanding of how he is different ~ it just blew me away.  He speaks for all people with autism, but I wonder if that really is the case.  There are many specifics to his own life, that he broadly put onto all with autism...but from a 13-year-old's perspective, it probably seems true.  He wrote of things that totally changed my perception of those struggling with autism ~ lots of things I highlighted...so here we go:
 p1 ~ a great word:  unstoppably

p12 ~ The three characters used for the word "autism" in Japanese signify "self", "shut" and "illness."

p34 ~ Some of you may think we read aloud with a strange intonation, too.  This is because we can't read the story and imagine the story at the same time.

p67 ~ Even performing one straightforward task, I can't get started as smoothly as you can.  Here's how I have to go about things: 1. I think about what I'm going to do.  2. I visualize how I'm going to do it.  3. I encourage myself to get going.  How smoothly I can do the job depends on how smoothly this process goes.

p92 ~ Every single thing has its own unique beauty.  People with autism get to cherish this beauty, as if it's a kind of blessing given to us.  Wherever we go, whatever we do, we can never be completely lonely.

p101 ~ Unchanging things are comforting, and there's something beautiful about that.

p119 ~ But to us people with special needs, nature is an important as our own lives.  The reason is that when we look at nature, we receive a sort of permission to be alive in this world, and our entire bodies get recharged.  However often we're ignored and pushed away by other people, nature will always give us a good big hug, here inside our hearts.

p129 ~ people with autism never, ever feel at ease, wherever we are.  Because of this, we wander off--or run away--in search of some location were we do feel at ease.

p134 ~ Roads speak to us people with autism, and invite us onward.

p135 ~ I feel a deep envy of people who can know what their own minds are saying, and who have the power to act accordingly. My breain is always sending me off on little missions, whether or not I want to do them.  And if I don't obey, then I have to fight a feeling of horror.

p140~ To you who are helping us, I'd say this: please handle and approach our behavioral issues with a strong faith that they are definitely going to pass, at some point in the future.  When we are stopped from doing what we want, we may well make a terrible song and dance about it, but in time we'll get used to the idea.  And until we reach that point, we'd like you to stick with it, and stick with us.

p149~ One of the biggest misunderstandings you have about us is your belief that our feelings aren't as subtle and complex as yours.  because how we behave can appear so childish in your eyes, you tend to assume that we're childish on the inside, too.