Anyone hear of Naoki Higashima?

[granolaturtle]

I was reading about him and he seems really cool. Anyone else read about him? He's a nonverbal autistic writer who's written quite a few works. I think it's cool because there aren't many autistic people, especially nonverbal autistic people, who are out in the public eye and respected for their accomplishments. He writes very frankly about being on the autism spectrum.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

• Nanakorobi yaoki, 七転び八起き, (Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8) Translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell, 2017

Ive been saying nanakorobi yaoki for years, i have the japanese script on my stairs.

Seven times down,eight times up. (Try,try,try again... if at first you dont succeed are western equivalents)

As long as you get up one more time than you fall down, then its okay.

They had his book on BBC radio4 a while ago, maybe its out there in podcast world somewhere

Coudlnt remember his name but had heard of him

 

[Ameriblush]

Sounds kind of interesting, I want to read more about that. Gives me hope that maybe my ideas can get out there someday?

 

[granolaturtle]

I think it was actually Higashida, not Higashima. Sorry, my bad, guys.

 

[tree]

I think it was actually Higashida, not Higashima. Sorry, my bad, guys.

ohh...the guy who wrote the book about his autism,
when he was 13? That guy?

Naoki Higashida - Wikipedia

I read The Reason I jump.
I was surprised at how little I enjoyed it.

I guess it really did represent him, as a young adolescent, but
the style was so inconsistent. Sometimes he sounded like a
natural boy his age, and then a lot of the time it sounded like
he was just repeating things he'd heard.

He made many assertions regarding things he said were universal,
but that seemed to be merely generalizations based on himself.

Which, I suppose would be typical of a young ASD kid, but
just was not really fun, for me, to read.

 

[granolaturtle]

ohh...the guy who wrote the book about his autism,
when he was 13? That guy?

Naoki Higashida - Wikipedia

I read The Reason I jump.
I was surprised at how little I enjoyed it.

I guess it really did represent him, as a young adolescent, but
the style was so inconsistent. Sometimes he sounded like a
natural boy his age, and then a lot of the time it sounded like
he was just repeating things he'd heard.

He made many assertions regarding things he said were universal,
but that seemed to be merely generalizations based on himself.

Which, I suppose would be typical of an young ASD kid, but
just was not really fun, for me, to read.

He's written more stuff since then, thankfullym

 

[Coupe]

I've read The Reason I Jump, too! I managed to read it not long after it was released, and I liked it - I was just starting to seek out books written by actually autistic people back then (I did, however, discover the late Donna Williams' autobiography Nobody Nowhere some years before, and I've lost count of how many times I've read/re-read it at this point). Also, I think (but I'm not sure) that Naoki Higashida might have also appeared in the documentary Wretches and Jabberers with Larry Bissonnette and Tracy Thresher - it's been several years since I've seen it, so I don't quite remember.

 

[pax]

I liked "The reason I jump." I have not read anything else of his.