THE BOOK REVIEW

What is it about encountering someone with Asperger's Syndrome that is so oddly upsetting? Is it how they look past you as if you are just another object in the room? Laugh when everyone else in a room is crying? Respond to a simple question with a bizarre non sequitur? Display few if any emotions? Struggle to interpret other people's basic emotional states? As momentarily jarring as these interactions might be to us, it is nothing compared with the insecurity, heartbreak, and alienation experienced by those living with Asperger's. But don't take my word for it. See for yourself in John Elder Robison's frank and vivid account of coping with this disorder, Look Me in the Eye. 

Robison's younger brother is Augusten Burroughs, whom many credit (or blame) for writing one of the prototypical works (Running with Scissors) in the now-vast genre of "personal pain memoirs." As they're brothers, of course, there is some overlap in Burrough’s and Robison’s memoirs. Yet, because Robison leaves home by the time he's sixteen, he manages to avoid the worst of the madness borne by his sibling. In a way, Robison’s home situation was so bad, it was good. Had it not been so insupportable, Robison may never have been forced to live a life among other people, as painful and awkward as that could be.

Driven out into the world, he was able to take advantage of another, more positive side of Asperger's. Some "Aspergians" (Robison's term) are able to focus with extreme concentration to pull off extraordinary feats. In Robison's case, he was able to hear a musical effect in his head and tweak exactly the right circuits to duplicate that sound. This savantlike gift was his salvation: He became a  sound technician, working behind the scenes for Pink Floyd, and then touring with KISS as the band's special effects guru. Later in life, Robison did R&D work, most notably for Milton Bradley, an electronic game pioneer.

After many painful, conflicted years of trying to fit in at a traditional job, he left to start his own company, JE Robison Service, a high-end foreign car repair shop—quite a gutsy move for someone not adept at interacting with others.

As a book for prospective or practicing teachers, Look Me in the Eye is a bracing, cautionary read. Throughout his schooling, teachers would scold and reprimand Robison and bore him with their unchallenging lessons. Only when he'd visit the audiovisual lab to repair broken electronics was it apparent (to anyone paying attention) that he had the stuff of genius in him. Dropping out of high school and never attending college were slow-healing wounds to Robison's self-esteem that might have been avoided. But, happily for him, he was able to cope with the down side of Asperger’s while using its strange gifts to his advantage.

*For those who prefer the truth about Asperger's as delivered by fiction, I highly recommend The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.