Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison
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Book Reviews of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's
Book Review: Fun, positive and worth reading
Summary: 5 Stars
I like this book because it is funny. It is a story about a boy growing to be a man, a story of a survivor - surviving from both difficult family condition and Asperger disorder. From the descriptions of his thoughts I see similarities to my own experiences with Aspergers. However I disagree with some of his rather naughty deviltry, those are entertaining and worth telling. After all it's a story of a person's destiny and his choices along with it. The style of writing is as honest as Aspergers - straightforward and jaw dropping funny. I like the author's courage of moving on, unwillingness to be trapped in his surroundings or disabilities, and sarcastic but still optimistic sense of humor.
I believe whoever cares about someone with AS will read more than one book about this syndrome. I might be a bit worried about people who only read this book and think AS is all this book represents..... However, I'd still love to see as many people talk about Asperger syndrome as possible!!!
Off course we can't expect people with AS to all grow up being positive and successful. It's like to expect every person with hand disabilities to be happy foot artists. When we learn most AS show similar characteristics of symptoms, we need to realize they have different personalities, interests, upbringing and experiences in life.
Book Review: Must read this brilliant memoir!!
Summary: 5 Stars
In his enthralling memoir, John Elder Robison provides us with a captivating glimpse into how his unique, gifted mind works. Raised by an alcoholic, abusive father and a mentally-ill mother, he overcomes the many challenges of growing up with Asperger's. Socially awkward, he learns how to correctly respond to comments made in conversations. Mr. Robison also shares many insightful stories which are both humorous and poignant. Blessed with a special ability to sharply focus and learn quickly, along with an extraordinary talent for mechanics, he makes many amazing contributions to the areas of music and electronics. Today, he runs a very successful and productive small business restoring old cars. Mr. Robison has magnificently-written a brilliant, enlightening book that I absolutely LOVED for many reasons. Finding out the details of his various electronics projects was really interesting. Learning about his thought process during a conversation was quite fascinating. I also really enjoyed reading narrative from a different perspective. I don't have a connection to Asperger's or Autism, but if I do meet someone, I'll certainly understand what life is like for them. This book also served as an excellent reminder for me to stop and think before I judge the actions or behavior of someone else. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!Book Review: Entertaining and positive
Summary: 5 Stars
As many other reviewers have said, this is a good read and an entertaining picture of what it's like to see the world through the author's eyes. But he also makes some very important points about Asperger's, namely:
1. Aspies are socially inept because they lack innate abilities that we take for granted: how to pick up on behavioral cues, empathy, etc.
2. They're not sociopaths; they're interested in other people and want to join in social activities, but they don't instinctively know how to behave in those situations and often say or do exactly the wrong thing.
3. Because they're logical and intelligent, Aspies can be taught the appropriate social behavior. Robison figured it out for himself in late childhood, and from then on he was able to make friends, but having some guidance at an early age would have spared him years of frustration.
I read the book because I suspected that a young man of my acquaintance is an Aspie -- and, after reading it, I'm sure he is. Unfortunately, his family seems convinced that he's hopelessly "weird" and "antisocial" and doomed to a life on the margins of society. I plan to recommend the book to his relatives, because I'm sure that if he's diagnosed and trained, he'll be able to lead a full, productive life.
Book Review: robison's look me in the eye: great perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
As a parent of a child with asperger's syndrome, I found this an excellent read and was able to recognize and see a lot of the thought process behind some of my son's actions. As a person who has worked in special education at the high school level in academic support for moderate learning disabilities, I was able to recognize some of my more 'stubborn' students and find ways to talk with them and work with them when they were so resistant. I've also worked in elementary support for many years prior to my hs job or my current private tutoring, and this book opened me up to their point of view, as well as my son's.
As a huge reader, I found Robison's book extremely entertainingly written, with a great sense of humor and unusual perspective. The story of growing up feeling so alone in his mind and in his family was heartbreaking, but ultimately very hopeful as he navigated his way through the world very independently. I hope that my son will be able to do the same, but with less tragic circumstances of origin. I hope that his future in expressiing himself will be as successful as Robison's. And it sure was fun reading about working on the tech tricks of the old KISS concerts!
Book Review: A review from the perspective of someone who actually has AS.
Summary: 5 Stars
Asperger syndrome, along with autism itself, is the latest mystery in the psychological world, hatched only a few years ago. Many of the reviewers for this problem, when talking about this product, when it comes to their experience in AS, they usually say, "I got a son/daughter/cousin/uncle/friend with it."
As an aspie that has been diagnosed for almost ten years, I can tell you that this book, while not a Rosetta Stone for all aspies (or Aspergians, as John calls them,) it is still an interesting peek into our complex lives.
John, who has quite the memory tells us about his life, from his abusive childhood to dropping out to developing smoking guitars for KISS, to finally settling down and getting married, all with a photographic memory that I could only dream about. I can relate to him on many aspects of his life, but some are different. After all, every person is different, no matter what so called 'disability' they have.
The book itself is not a guide to AS, but instead is just a tale from it. I hope one day to write my own tale, as I hope the other aspies do.