This was a good read, whether you're interested in Asperger's or not. It's amazing that he and his brother were able to have such good senses of humor after their tough childhoods. I liked all of his practical jokes. And I like that he calls his lies 'tricks'. Growing up with him must be a lot like growing up with dad, in that respect. Never knowing whether what you're being told is a truth or a 'trick'.
It made me a little sad that when he got older and acquired better social skills he lost his savant like ability to design circuits and the like. Better for him I guess, but why can't he have both!?
- Megan Leigh
I have been wanting to read Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison for a long time. Megan and I have been on a quest to learn more about Asperger's, but a lot of the books about this disorder are so boring, and I'm not sure a lot of what they say is particularly helpful or true. So it was interesting to read the biography of a person who actually has Asperger's.
Robison talks about how difficult his early life was because of Asperger's. Honestly, given his home life, his life would have been difficult no matter what--as his younger brother Augusten Borroughs described in his memoir, Running with Scissors. But the Asperger's almost certainly made it a lot harder! He grew up with this disorder during a time when it wasn't widely recognized, and it was decades away from being added to the DSM, the bible for psychiatric disorders. In fact, he didn't realize that this disorder described all of the problems he'd been suffering with--as well as his amazing strengths--until he was 40, and a psychiatrist friend pointed it out!
Luckily, Robison was a very smart kid. He was able to figure out most of the social rules people follow on his own. And although he never made it through high school, he was able to make friends, get married and have a son, and figure out how his talents could be put to great use. He ended up making crazy special effects for KISS, designing electronic games for Milton Bradley (like my beloved Speak & Spell), and running a very successful fancy car-repair business. Also, you can tell that Robison has a pretty good sense of humor throughout. This wasn't one of those earnest, difficult to read memoirs about overcoming adversity.
This book was pretty inspiring! I decided to try and expose my little Aspie to engineering fun. I am signing him up for robot summer camp! This book also inspired me to try and buy a Speak & Spell on ebay. But I lost the auction. Booo. It is interesting to note that after reading this book, I am pretty sure that Robison would have told the authors of many of the Asperger's books we've read to go to hell. Hmmm.
-Kristin
7 comments:
I think we may have kept Tori's Speak & Spell. You will have to see if she will let go of it. I'm not 100% sure though. Seems like something we would have kept because I was attached and it made me think of ET. I still think I am an Aspie and that Grammy might have been too.
I think I saved our speak and spell. I couldn't part with it. I'll look today or tomorrow. Remind me if you don't hear from me.
Boy, computer camp might be right up his alley. I'm excited to hear how he likes it.
I looked for Speak and Spell but couldn't find it. Maybe I was thinking of geo safari, but I could have sworn I saw Speak and Spell. I guess now, though...
oh, geosafari would be good too! elliot needs to learn his geography! i want a speak n spell so bad. i would play it before i went to bed after a hard day.
Kris,
Temple Grandin's book is supposed to be good. The movie is very good. We also enjoyed the movie "My Name is Khan". Ian liked the Math Mat for numbers. They jump on the number to answer the problem. He also learned the states from a jigsaw puzzle. Most of Ian's friends in Special Olympics have Asbergers and he has a lot in common with them.
I never heard about "My name is Khan." I just looked it up--putting it on my list!
It's not a true story but we still enjoyed it.
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