Look Me in the Eye

My Life with Asperger's

De: John Elder Robison

Narrado por: Mark Deakins

Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits - an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes - had earned him the label “social deviant.” No guidance came from his mother or his father. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on.

After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS. Later, he drifted into a “real” job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be “normal” and do what he simply couldn’t: communicate.

It was not until he was 40 that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himself - and the world. Robison also provides a fascinating reverse angle on the younger brother he left at the mercy of their nutty parents - the boy who would later change his name to Augusten Burroughs.

Ultimately, this is the story of Robison’s journey from his world into ours, a strange, sly, indelible account - sometimes alien, yet always deeply human.

©2007 John Elder Robison (P)2007 Books on Tape

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Thoughtful and thoroughly memorable." ( Publishers Weekly)

Interesting autobiography; not autism-informative

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The author does not have any training in science, psychology, or logic; which is not a crime in itself, but he constantly uses "I'm autistic, so therefore I cannot help but think logically!" to explain away some very illogical lines of thought and fabricated narratives. As an autistic scientist myself, this drove me up the wall.

He comes up with a lot of mighty tempting narratives that sound pretty plausible, and states them as facts and logic (think: bad evolutionary psychology papers). Nobody is born with a solid grasp on logic or science, not even autistic people (although they might have a leg-up on the competition). This is why there is extensive coursework and schooling for these subjects.

I would have much preferred that the author frame this story as an interesting autobiography of somebody with a very weird and interesting life who happened to be autistic. Did his autism influence and affect his life and perception? Certainly it did, and that makes his accounts very interesting, but he should have left out his countless "autism teaching moments" where he pauses the story to say "now see, this is all because of my autism, clearly I had no choice and clearly I was the only logical one there."

I would have removed these parts, partly because they got repetitive and obnoxious, and mostly because there is no way to parse out how much of his reactions are due to his autism and how much are due to his traumatic and tumultuous childhood (or even some combination of both).

I love autism self-advocacy and I think it is very important, but he loves to make "scientific" and "psychiatric" evaluations of his actions post-hoc, when he doesn't have any training in these fields (and this is painfully obvious). Just as a woman is uniquely qualified to speak about her experiences and feelings as a woman, she cannot describe her own biology accurately unless she had received sufficient education in biology or performed sufficient biological studies and learned that way.

For these reasons, if you are interested in autism self-advocacy or you want to learn more about autism, I would suggest sticking to Rudy Simone or Temple Grandin instead. They are more scientifically-minded than John Elder Robison and are more versed in the nuances of autism and individual experiences. If you just want to read a fun autobiography from a man who had an incredibly unusual (even for an Aspergian) life and you don't necessarily need to learn anything about autism, then Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's will fit the bill. Because don't get me wrong, it was still a fun and exciting narrative.

Great book

loved it and helps me understand and confirm what my child lives with. wonderful book!

Phenomenal

Even if you’re not on the Autism spectrum, you will still enjoy this read. Not only is it an illuminating & raw look at one man’s life as an undiagnosed Aspergian, it’s a brilliantly written book, that will not only keep your attention, it also provides many moments of levity. If you are on the spectrum or if you know someone on the spectrum, don’t pass this book up!

The book I needed

This book is informative, entertaining and most of all feels honest. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in looking into the mind of an aspergian. I also believe those with loved ones that are diagnosed with aspergers could use this book to improve communication and understanding.

I've worked in mental health for almost a decade. That experience led me to research Aspergers in order to better serve clients. My research led to a Eureka moment where I realized I probably have been walking around undiagnosed. This book has helped me identify aspergian traits in myself and helped me better understand the successes and failures in my own life along with the dynamics of my interpersonal relationships.

Loved it!

As a mother of a child with ASD I appreciate him putting himself out there. Funny, sad, and informative made for a wonderful book. I even had my son who is 11 listen to a part where he describes what it's like for him having conversations with others. My son looked at me and said, "that's exactly how I feel!"

EXCELLENCE IN SOUND!!!

Great autobiography. Some many twists and turns and ups and downs! You will be elated, overjoyed and want to cry within 2 minutes.

Talent Runs in the family

Book came up as recommended because I adore Augustan Burroughs. It wasn't ill I started listening that I realized it was the famous authors older brother! This memoir was such great insight into Aspergers and seeing this famous family from a different perspective. I listen at work, and I could not contain the giggles at times. Highly recommend if you like comical memoirs.

Curse words where there were none.

The book was a very good read, however the narrator changed some of the words to curse words, that I took offense to. Narrator 's need to stick to the words in the story.

This book described my life.

I love this book, made me analyze my life and got lot of information of who I am, excellent story makes you remember things and also made me feel I was the one on the story, highly recommended!

A wonderfully honest insight

Having heard about Asperger's over the years and having some idea of what it meant this book made it all more real for me. The insight that the author gives as to why people with Asperger's are viewed as difficult and arrogant is refreshing.
Yes, some of the book is repetitive but the candid reflection of how 'normal' behaviour is incomprehensible and confusing to someone with Asperger's is great. When I got to the end of the first part and realised that I didn't have the 2nd part on my iPod and would have to wait overnight to continue listening I was gutted.
The only truely appalling thing about this book was the English accent that the narrator used for some of the characters, but thankfully they didn't have too many lines