The Reason I Jump cover art

The Reason I Jump

One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism

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The Reason I Jump

By: Naoki Higashida, David Mitchell - translator, Keiko Yoshida - translator
Narrated by: David Mitchell, Thomas Judd
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About this listen

Written by Naoki Higishida when he was only 13, this remarkable book explains the often baffling behaviour of autistic children and shows the way they think and feel - about the people around them, time and beauty, noise, and themselves.

Naoki abundantly proves that autistic people do possess imagination, humour and empathy, but also makes clear, with great poignancy, how badly they need our compassion, patience and understanding.

David Mitchell and his wife have translated Naoki's book so that it might help others dealing with autism, and generally illuminate a little-understood condition. Like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, it gives us an exceptional chance to enter the mind of another and see the world from a strange and fascinating perspective.

©2007 Naoki Higashida; translation © 2013 KA Yoshida and David Mitchell (P)2013 Hodder & Stoughton Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Autism

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All stars
Most relevant  
This is a powerful, valuable insight into the reality of living with autism. It's a remarkable achievement, given that Naoki Higashida used an alphabet grid to respond to the questions, and some of the phrasing is strikingly beautiful - "When I’m jumping, it’s as if my feelings are going upward to the sky.”

A powerful insight

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Enjoyable overall but feel it tries to generalise. Was interesting to hear perspective on so many questions.

attempting to understand

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Hearing from an autistic young person's perspective is fascinating, there's no other way to describe it. It sort of explains a lot, although as Naoki says not all people with autism are the same, but there are elements there that match with traits I have observed in others with autism that he explains from his perspective why he acts the way he does.

Fascinating

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Very interesting and confirming for me about some of the behaviours I have been questioning. Well written and easy to understand.

Great read

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As a parent of an autistic child I found this an interesting insight in to the thoughts and struggles of this young boy. I know how no two autistic people are the same but nonetheless I found a lot of parallels to draw with my own son.

A personal but relevant insight

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Evocative use of sound accompanied this reading. Insights so interesting and helpful to anyone interacting with ASD.

Fun and informative

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was extremely informative, enjoyed it thoroughly an insight into my son. would recommend to anyone living with someone on the autism spectrum or who would like to understand it more

fantastic

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes and to anyone working with autistic children, because it helps us to understand a bit more and to be more compassionate in daily living with people who are autistic.

What other book might you compare The Reason I Jump to, and why?

I have nothing to compare it with

Which character – as performed by David Mitchell and Thomas Judd – was your favourite?

They were all one.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. The questions put forward are often different ways of asking the same thing so I prefered to listen in sections. I understand that this was probably for the boys comfort and to get a more extensive answer on the subject matter in question.

Any additional comments?

A very interesting listen, worth spreading the word about.

A brilliant insight

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It was such an interesting book and extremely helpful, particularly as I know someone with Autism and it helps me understand them better.

Amazing Read

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I am highly functioning person on spectrum and I also had a privilege to work with people on spectrum in the past 4-5 years. This book not only confirms everything I knew about this condition but also puts a nice fresh spin on it at times. It's brilliant writing. I am glad that his voice has found it's way out. Sadly not many people working with people on spectrum are willing to educate themselves about this condition and often make their life harder (not only by using schedule boards of course). I hope we will hear more from this talented author! This book should be part of autism training imo.

Breathtaking

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