Look Me in the Eye

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 and stick his younger brother in them had earned him the label social deviant No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry 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, for whom he created their legendary fire breathing guitars Later, he drifted into a real job, as an engineer for a major toy company But the higher Robison rose in the company, thehe had to pretend to be normal and do what he simply couldn t communicate It wasn t worth the paycheck.It was not until he was forty 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 Look Me in the Eye is the moving, darkly funny story of growing up with Asperger s at a time when the diagnosis simply didn t exist A born storyteller, Robison takes you inside the head of a boy whom teachers and other adults regarded as defective, who could not avail himself of KISS s endless supply of groupies, and who still has a peculiar aversion to using people s given names he calls his wife Unit Two He 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 and write the bestselling memoir Running with Scissors.Ultimately, this is the story of Robison s journey from his world into ours, and his new life as a husband, father, and successful small business owner repairing his beloved high end automobiles It s a strange, sly, indelible account sometimes alien, yet always deeply human. Read Look Me in the Eye Author John Elder Robison – kino-fada.fr I am interested in the Asperger s continuum, so when I heard about this memoir written by Augusten Burroughs s brother I added it to mywish list The title leads one to believe that the book is about the author s life with Asperger s, but that s a little misleading The book is about his life in general and very little is devoted to how Asperger s influenced his life at all ages I wanted to read a memoir about growing up within a dysfunctional family and also having a condition that I am interested in the Asperger s continuum, so when I heard about this memoir written by Augusten Burroughs s brother I added it to mywish list The title leads one to believe that the book is about the author s life with Asperger s, but that s a little misleading The book is about his life in general and very little is devoted to how Asperger s influenced his life at all ages I wanted to read a memoir about growing up within a dysfunctional family and also having a condition that makes life different, but what I read was about his experiences with sound engineering, some good stories that you can hear in any bar and, occasionally, his Asperger s His condition seemed to be tangential, an afterthought A selling point I skimmed through most of the middle part of the...Asperger s Syndrome is a form of autism that affects social interaction, communication skills and may also cause physical clumsiness For example, it may prevent a person from displaying emotion and may cause them to make inappropriate or odd comments The author Robison had it undiagnosed for most of his life Robison is also the older brother of Running with Scissors author Augusten Burroughs One interesting element of this book is that Robison describes some of the same events as Burroughs, Asperger s Syndrome is a form of autism that affects social interaction, communication skills and may also cause physical clumsiness For example, it may prevent a person from displaying emotion and may cause them to make inappropriate or odd comments The author Robison had it undiagnosed for most of his life Robison is also the older brother of Running with Scissors author Augusten Burroughs One interesting element of this book is that Robison describes some of the same events as Burroughs, but from the o...In a day when a cure is expected for nearly every ailment, flaw or disorder, I was struck by John Elder Robinson s assertion that those with Asperger s Syndrome, a neurobiological disorder on the autism spectrum that the author lived with undiagnosed until he was forty, needs no cure only understanding.John Elder Robinson starts his story with his earliest memories a failed attempt to make friends in a sandbox and meanders through his shame at being called a deviant and a psychopath because h In a day when a cure is expected for nearly every ailment, flaw or disorder, I was struck by John Elder Robinson s assertion that those with Asperger s Syndrome, a neurobiological disorder on the autism spectrum that the author lived with undiagnosed until he was forty, needs no cure only understanding.John Elder Robinson starts his story with his earliest memories a failed attempt to make friends in a sandbox and meanders through his shame at being called a deviant and a psychopath because he avoided eye contact although his explanation about how he still doesn t understand most people s need to stare at somebody s eyeball while speaking to them is hilarious , leaving home in the middle of his teenage years, finding himself as part of the 70s rock scene and creating flaming guitars for KISS, faking his way through a job interview for a position as an engi...Look me in the eyes, young man Nobody trusts a man who won t look them in the eye You look like a criminal I ve read about people like you They have no expression because they have no feeling Some of the worst murderers in history were sociopaths These are just some of the things John Elder Robison heard as a young boy, decades before a friend handed him a book about Asperger s Syndrome and told him, This book describes you exactly Hearing these predictions made Robison withdraw eve Look me in the eyes, young man Nobody trusts a man who won t look them in the eye You look like a criminal I ve read about people like you They have no expression because they have no feeling Some of the worst murderers in history were sociopaths These are just some of the things John Elder Robison heard as a young boy, decades before a friend handed him a book about Asperger s Syndrome and told him, This book describes you exactly Hearing these predictions made Robison withdraw even further as a child as he waited for these awful thin...I had no idea John Robison was Augusten Burrough s brother He gives the foreword in the book This is a really sad story of a boy s childhood He had family with troubles, kids and people that were mean They didn t know he had something like he had and people didn t understand most of that stuff back then They don t even understand it now A lot of people are just mean Just because someone has any kind of mental or medical issue doesn t mean there is something wrong with them They are not m I had no idea John Robison was Augusten Burrough s brother He gives the foreword in the book This is a really sad story of a boy s childhood He had family with troubles, kids and people that were mean They didn t know he had something like he had and people didn t understand most of that stuff back then They don t even understand it now A lot of people are just mean Just because someone has any kind of mental or medical issue doesn t mean there is something wrong with them They are not monsters EXCERPT By the time I was twelve, I had progressed from If he doesn t get better, he may have to be institutionalized to He s a weird, screwed up kid But although my communication abiliti...I don t really know how I feel about this book On the one hand I suppose I m glad that it helps dissolve the notion that people with Asperger s now grouped in under autism in general are not idiots or freaks, but just people with a different way of thinking On the other hand, it reaffirms the stereotype of the eccentric savant and that people with Asperger s arecaring towards their fixations than towards other people I guess that s all a matter of perspective with it being such a wi I don t really know how I feel about this book On the one hand I suppose I m glad that it helps dissolve the notion that people with Asperger s now grouped in under autism in general are not idiots or freaks, but just people with a different way of thinking On the other hand, it reaffirms the stereotype of the eccentric savant and that people with Asperger s arecaring towards their fixations than towards other people I guess that s all a matter of perspective with it being such a wide spectrum and some people arguing that those with Asperger s are just introverts being psychologically diagnosed for being different, a book like Look Me in the Eye is sure to draw out polarizing opinions from both experts and average readers alike.One thing I just found rather annoying personally was the wallowing in dysfunctional family drama For anyone who doesn t know, John Robison is the brother of Augusten Burroughs yes, that Augusten Burroughs who wrote a memoir ab...I bought this book on a whim so that my order would get free shipping from .com I was quickly horrified to learn that the author is the real life brother of Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors I did not enjoy that memoir at all Go read my review of it so see what exactly I hated, if you re so curious But I decided that I would try not to hold Robison s family against him and read his book.I have to admit, given my son s placement on the autism spectrum, books that app I bought this book on a whim so that my order would get free shipping from .com I was quickly horrified to learn that the author is the real life brother of Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors I did not enjoy that memoir at all Go read my review of it so see what exactly I hated, if you re so curious But I decided that I would try not to hold Robison s family against him and read his book.I have to admit, given my son s placement on the autism spectrum, books that approach that subject matter spark my interest Robison s memoir focuses on his view of the world as a person living with Asperger s, and for a very large portion of his life, without a dianosis So many moments I saw characte...OKAY THIS WAS GLORIOUS I m always nervous of memoirs and, particularly, adult booksbecause I am Peter Pan, okay I am not growing into adult books. Return me to the children s aisle ASAP ahem BUT This was so easy to read and funny and engaging and interesting and I basically did not want to put it down I was doing the whole oh onechapter and I ll go to bedum, just onejust oneAddictive yes.Also it s by someone with Asperger s so you know all his memories and OKAY THIS WAS GLORIOUS I m always nervous of memoirs and, particularly, adult booksbecause I am Peter Pan, okay I am not growing into adult books. Return me to the children s aisle ASAP ahem BUT This was so easy to read and funny and engaging and interesting and I basically did not want to put it down I was doing the whole oh onechapter and I ll go to bedum, just onejust oneAddictive yes.Also it s by someone with Asperger s so you know all his memories and feelings and experiences are 100% true unlike some other awful AS books I ve readugh let s not even talk about them And I think this gives you a fantastic view of how being Aspergic is sometimes an invisible thing and it can affect your life 100% but people just assume you re being belligerent or annoying or, as was John Elder s experience, most likely to end up a serial killer despite him being a very non violent person SO THIS BOOK IS JUST GRAND, OKAY The only part I didn t like was in the middle It ...

• English
• 16 June 2017
John Elder Robison
• Hardcover
• 304 pages
• 0307395987
• John Elder Robison
• Look Me in the Eye