The Reason I Jump - Book Review

The Reason I Jump is a book written by an autistic 13 year old Japanese boy called Naoki Higashida. Translated by David Mitchell, a father of an autistic son, he hoped the book will benefit other families and give a valuable insight into the life of people with autism. David explains that although there are plenty of books on professionals’ views, parent views and 'autism autobiography' there are currently no books that allows a true insight into the difficulties faced by someone with autism. David shared, that for the first time, The Reason I Jump allowed him to feel like his son was talking about what is happening inside his head and further developed their relationship. Naoki is non verbal and communicates by pointing to letters on a grid to spell out whole words. These words eventually build up to make a whole book. Naoki acknowledges the importance of communication and hopes this book will help people to find a means to understand the thoughts and feelings of someone with autism. The book has 58 questions and answers from 'Why do you take ages to answer questions?' to 'do you have a sense of time?' to 'why can you never stay still'? Naoki gives his own personal account which can only provide professionals information, empathy and enhance our clinical skills and parents a voice to their child's needs. I would recommend The Reason I Jump to anyone working in the field of autism or a parent / grandparent / carer to someone with autism.