Review- The reason I jump

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

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a difficult book to review. I understand that there are questions about the authenticity of the authorship, which I don't think need to addressed directly in a review, except to the extent that the translation is awkward in places, with the second person tense regularly used, and constant references to 'guys' and other language that it seems unlikely that a thirteen year old would use. This makes some of the passages cringe worthy.

The book is mostly written in sections that begin with a question about autism, followed by the author's answer. Subjective experience is almost invariably generalized, giving many section an odd quality, as it is obvious that the author's experiences or opinions cannot be universal amongst autistic people. For example, there are a number of bizarre flights of fantasy in which the author speculates that autistic people might be a throwback to earlier stages of human evolution, are outside civilization, or are somehow not complete people. Of course, the author is entitled to their view, but it is curious that on the one hand they are knowledgeable about autism, and on the other, seem to have no awareness of how critical many autistic self-advocates are about those kinds of ideas.

I found the book to be more informative when the author spoke about the physical disabilities that some autistic people experience. Those sections were mostly written in a less florid style and seemed more believable. Assuming the authorship to be genuine, this was an interesting account of a subject that is difficult to understand by those who do not experience it.

The book also contained a number of short works of fiction, which were of a similarly mixed quality. Some were fairy tales and were funny and interesting; the longer works were often tedious.

It is difficult to know whether to recommend this book; I think it would be misleading for anyone with no knowledge of autism. It should definitely be read with caution, but there are some interesting sections.



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