Look Me In The Eye

Categories: Staff Picks , Nonfiction

I am privileged in my work to serve the population of special needs children in our county. While I enjoy all of them, there is a special spot in my affections for the Autistic and Asperger's kids.

John Elder Robison's look me in the eye: my life with asperger's (2007) is the memoir of a life with Asperger's syndrome. Undiagnosed as a child, his unusual family did not really help this brilliant man on the road to normalcy (whatever that may be), and his younger brother Augusten Burroughs wrote his own memoir about that, Running with Scissors (2002).

Daniel Tammet's Born on a Blue Day (2007) also relates what it is like to grow up with Asperger's. This incredibly creative man, who recited Pi to over 22,000 digits, also has savant syndrome capabilities and synesthesia; but he has grown up to fit in to his everyday world and excel in it, developing a language-tutoring website for learners of new languages.

In their own words, these books describe how these incredible men grew up. I admire them.

Oh so many years ago when I was fresh out of college and had my first teaching assistant job in a school for emotionally disturbed children, there were 2 kids that I worked with that I particularly remember: Troy and Shannon, both with Asperger's syndrome and both extremely interesting. They were funny and affectionate in their own ways, and we would celebrate little victories such as eye contact or shaking hands or finishing a page of math problems without having to erase all the answers and write them again. And there was also Phillip, who was absolutely brilliant and regularly gave me copies of his completely hand-drawn magazine, "U.S. BUS", so charming in his 8-year-old hand but surprisingly informative.

These kids are in their 30's now, and I wonder if they remember me. If I base my hopes on these wonderful memoirs, I can be confident that they do.