The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism

#1096
Title: The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism
Author: Naoki Higashida
Translators: KA Yoshida and David Mitchell
Year: 2013
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 176

Caveat emptor. This is one of only a handful of books I've ever returned. It is deceptive.

This is a failure for a couple of reasons. First, it's really unclear (despite a certain amount of research) whether Higashida, a Japanese teen with autism, is doing his own writing or "facilitated communication," which is a dubious, Ouija-like practice without much scientific credibility. Second, Mitchell has, by his own admission, not just translated but stylized. This makes it difficult for the reader to evaluate Higashida's own actual language, associations, and thought processes (if, given the facilitation, this is even possible). Third, it is a highly romanticized and thus suspect vision of autism, in the school of "He's in there, he just can't get out!" I work indirectly with many families with an autistic child, and while the children certainly have personalities and, through words or behaviors, their own voices, they sound nothing like this. Fourth, there is a trend toward narratives purporting to be by children (like I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced) that clearly are written or heavily tampered with by adults, putting them in some ways into the A Million Little Pieces and Go Ask Alice category of fake memoir, often to prove a moral point. Fifth, even if this were an entirely accurate translation and completely represented the putative author's beliefs and experience, it is sentimental treacle. Sixth, given the high likelihood that it's not accurate or representative, and the high star ratings it gets for its sentimental and treacly nature, it is dangerous because it so grossly misrepresents the experience of people with profound autism. Let's not forget that glurge sells and gets high ratings.

Many critical reviews, including those by parents of children with autism spectrum disorders, abound online.