Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8: A Young Man's Voice from the Silence of Autism, Hardcover

Descriere

From the author of the bestselling The Reason I Jump, an extraordinary self-portrait of life as a young adult with autism Naoki Higashida was only thirteen when he wrote The Reason I Jump, a revelatory account of autism from the inside by a nonverbal Japanese child, which became an international success. Now he shares his thoughts and experiences as a twenty-four-year-old man living each day with severe autism. In short, powerful chapters, Higashida explores school memories, family relationships, the exhilaration of travel, and the difficulties of speech. He also allows readers to experience profound moments we take for granted, like the thought-steps necessary for him to register that it's raining outside. Acutely aware of how strange his behavior can appear to others, he aims throughout to foster a better understanding of autism and to encourage society to see people with disabilities as people, not as problems. With an introduction by bestselling novelist David Mitchell, Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 also includes a dreamlike short story Higashida wrote especially for this edition. Both moving and of practical use, this book opens a window into the mind of an inspiring young man who meets every challenge with tenacity and good humor. However often he falls down, he always gets back up. Advance praise for Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 ""Vibrant . . . In Mitchell and Yoshida's deft translation, Higashida conveys this isolating mindset and his yearnings for connection and self-expression, in direct, evocative prose--his compulsive, restless motion, he writes, is 'instinctual, like a wild animal running over a wide plain'--that provides readers with a window into a previously unknowable world.""--Publishers Weekly ""Illuminating . . . Autism is a mysterious neurological condition. . . . Higashida gives us a thoughtful view of the art of living well in its shadow.""--Kirkus Reviews ""Readers will find this older Higashida not only eloquent and thoughtful, but also wise, measured