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A review by aizataffendi
Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8: A Young Man's Voice from the Silence of Autism by Naoki Higashida
5.0
Hugely gripping, what I would consider a series of letters from a side of the world that is relatively unknown (i.e. what goes on in the minds of non-verbal autistics). Naoki spells out the dos and don't on how to handle autistic people, most of which are in particular to how parents should deal with their autistic kids. There is a disclaimer within his writings though, which mentioned that not unlike neurotypicals, no two autistic people are the same and what works for him may not work for another. That said, I still think that his writing would be of great help not only to the people who deal with autistics on the daily but to us everyday humans who would most certainly will encounter one person within the spectrum at some point(s) in our lives.
The key messages that I get from Naoki is that neurotypicals bruise just as easily as we all do. More often than not, they also understand what we say and are more likely to internalize these words especially when they don't have the means to articulate themselves (which gives rise to their self-loathing tendencies). Also, remember not to reprimand them in public whenever they're experiencing a meltdown, as these are usually beyond their control especially when there's an overload of information/thoughts in their brains. Best thing to do is just to give them space (whilst avoiding the natural tendency to stare or scold) while they calm themselves down. Act normally and treat them as you would normal people because no one likes to be singled out and/or put on the spot (yes, even neurotypicals! - something that people like us can't seem to wrap our heads around most times).
PS : I get the feeling that the publisher of the English translation of book doesn't really want to highlight the name of the writer (which was placed against busy graphics unlike the translator's name). I wonder if this was this intended
The key messages that I get from Naoki is that neurotypicals bruise just as easily as we all do. More often than not, they also understand what we say and are more likely to internalize these words especially when they don't have the means to articulate themselves (which gives rise to their self-loathing tendencies). Also, remember not to reprimand them in public whenever they're experiencing a meltdown, as these are usually beyond their control especially when there's an overload of information/thoughts in their brains. Best thing to do is just to give them space (whilst avoiding the natural tendency to stare or scold) while they calm themselves down. Act normally and treat them as you would normal people because no one likes to be singled out and/or put on the spot (yes, even neurotypicals! - something that people like us can't seem to wrap our heads around most times).
PS : I get the feeling that the publisher of the English translation of book doesn't really want to highlight the name of the writer (which was placed against busy graphics unlike the translator's name). I wonder if this was this intended