Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

So... I'm not even going to lie or back date this post. Remember when I said that I was going to read one book per month and then blog about it? Well, I half-way met my goal. I did, in fact, read a book in September. I just never blogged about it. Call it laziness, call it being flaky, or call it the life of a working woman/full-time student/caretaker to Doug and Moose, but please don't call me a book hater. That would just be mean.

My read for September was Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison. Nick discovered this book during one of our strolls through a bookstore. Knowing my love for memoirs and for all things psychology (i.e., interesting), he held it in front of my face and said, "how 'bout this?" It was a perfect match.

As the title suggests, Look Me in the Eye tells Robison's story growing up with Asperger's. Asperger's Syndrome is a spectrum disorder which, for the sake of brevity, I will say is a milder form of Autism. Like Autism, however, one can be diagnosed as high-functioning or low-functioning. In this case, Robison admits to being high-functioning, but this is not to say that a high-functioning diagnosis made his life any easier... especially considering he went without a diagnosis for the first 40 years of his life.

From his childhood, the reader can see Robison's struggle reading social cues and expressing socially expected emotions. Where others perceived his expressions as inappropriate or lacking empathy, his behaviors were highly characteristic of an individual with Asperger's. Nonetheless, these "abnormalities" posed difficulties for Robison in the realm of friendships, relationships, and social interaction. Often times they caused confusion and ultimately, alienation. Growing up with an alcoholic dad and mentally disturbed mom did not help Robison's symptoms; however, he showed savant-like qualities and, after dropping out of high school, parlayed his knowledge of electronics into some dream careers (touring the country with KISS, anyone?).

Robison acknowledges his struggle with humor so it's no wonder why his book invokes uproarious laughter. He talks about trying to befriend other children at school using the techniques his mother taught him to make nice with the family dog... by petting the kids. He shares his need to rename people so that he can remember faces. He deems his brother's name, Chris, insufficient and renames him Snort. As Chris grows up he renames him Varmint. As Chris becomes an adult Robison simply refers to him as Hey or My Brother. While these characteristics aren't meant to be funny, Robison's writing will have a reader believing they are laughing with him rather than at him.

Oh, and perhaps you've read Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs? They're talking about the same family... they're brothers.