The Autistic Book Club discussion

I'm just about to start reading 'The Reason I Jump', have you read it? Are. you reading it?
I'd be interested to know what. your thoughts are about this book?

Wow. Is this a record on the fastest you've every made a thread? We don't even have a Project Hail Mary thread yet. You must really like The reason I jump.

I sped read the book a couple of years ago. I'm looking forward to giving it my full attention.

Ouch! My explanation is it's a direct consequence of running everything by myself; Covid recovery, too much to do and suddenly looking at GoodReads and thinking, 'Oh no! I never created a topic for 'Project Hail Mary'! I better make one for 'The Reason I Jump' before I forget!'

But I will make (a belated) one for 'Project Hail Mary' because I really loved it, especially Rocky.

I always appreciate your feedback, Chara! x

Rachel wrote: "Ouch! My explanation is it's a direct consequence of running everything by myself; Covid recovery, too much to do and suddenly looking at GoodReads and thinking, 'Oh no! I never created a topic for..."

Whoops. Blunt statement. I didn't mean to offend
I figured that you must of been busy. No rush. This is supposed to be fun.

I also loved Rocky.

I'm not offended, just tired and I don't like making mistakes!
But I do so appreciate being able to put them right :)
Rocky was great x

I just finished. I flew through this! So many thoughts. The Q&A style quickly grew on me. I was really impressed with how self-aware and articulate he was as a 13 year old.

There were questions that have prompted some conversations with my husband (he’s neurotypical) and I’ve even asked my two young kids a couple of the questions.

There were actually some interesting insights I gleaned for them…our older daughter (4) for example has impulse responses to just run if she sees enough space to run - even if into someone else’s yard or there’s a road ahead, and even if we start off holding her hand and have told her not to run. She can’t seem to help it. I feel like this book helped me to see that in a different perspective other than just disobedience and I feel like I can be more patient with her when it happens again.

I learned a few new things I didn’t realize could be connected to autism - for myself and for things I see in my kids. I think it was really helpful to hear another person’s thoughts and specifically from a child’s perspective, too.

Overall, the book was interesting. There were some parts I just went “yeah, that doesn’t really make any sense to me,” but then I remember it was written by a 13yo boy, before there were names to a lot of concepts (like executive function, audio processing, disassociation, etc.). And there were other areas that put words to a vague concept I knew, but never named. Like not being able to read outloud and process the info at the same time. And how when I’m listening, I’m just *not seeing*.

“Emotional poverty and an aversion to company are not symptoms of autism but consequences of autism”
I like that. It feels like all the typical “symptoms” of autism are just things we do when we’re upset, overwhelmed, or not having our needs met.

I also appreciate how he talks about how he does xyz thing and it frustrates him, and he hates myself for it. It’s like my rational brain and my emotional brain are two different things and it can be SO frustrating when they don’t get along. So it’s nice to see I’m not alone there

I stopped taking notes like a quarter of the way through, but those were a few things that stood out.