I think this question is very important. (It is also important to note that not all people with Autism speak loud and weird.) Communication is important in any sort of relationship, especially when explaining what someone doesn’t understand. When it comes to “mental illnesses” there are so many negative stigmas and old ways of treating and handling people with them. This explanation Higashida gives provides insight to why Autistic people function differently when speaking. Higashida explains, “This is one of those things I can’t control. This one blurts out, not because I want it to; it’s more like a reflex.” The way he speaks in different voices is involuntary and he is aware that he does this. If more people were to understand a person with Autism’s inner workings and see that they are capable people with imperfections, (like everyone else) they would be treated differently. When reading Higashida you would think that he is Neurotypical, like everyone else. Then again, how many books have been published by people with Autism, and what does a person with Autism supposed to sound like? How can we categorize anything, especially something that we haven’t broken the surface on. Neurotypical people are doing research on Neuroatypical people, who how can there be any real insight coming from brains who doesn’t really understand what it’s like. Higashida gives so much insight and tries to eliminate stigma when answering his questions. He is very poetic as well, he says, “[It’s] almost as if I’m strangling my own throat” when trying not to let his other voice out but he also says, “Our voices are like our own breathing, I fell, just coming out of our own mouths, unconsciously.” Many people would not expect someone Autistic to write something like that, because when hearing “Autistic” the worst is assumed. Like Schaber mentioned there are “high” and “low” functioning, some speak, some don’t. Nobody would ever know. If Higashida never said that he was Autistic and wrote this book I wonder how people’s perspectives would change. Negativity overall about Autism or any “mental illness” needs to be erased. Higashida, like anyone else has feelings, inner thoughts and awareness. If more people took the time to understand and learn, change their mindsets about people who are different, the world would be better.
Hi Renee, I really like that you pointed out if Higashada wrote this book and never mentioned that he was autistic, how many peoples perspective would change? I agree, it is very true. One semester here at Queens I took a Children’s Literature course and one of the books we looked at was “The Hunger Games” and one of our assignments was to read an article the professor handed out to us. It was about an outrage of fans of the book when the movie came out how one of the main characters was supposed to be a little blonde, innocent white girl. However, these so-called fans must have overlooked the part (in the fine print itself) that the character of Rue is indeed described as black. Perhaps not as bluntly, but if you’re really paying attention to what you’re reading and paint the image in your head from the description, she’s black. I guess what I’m trying to say my point is, is that readers in general have a limited mindset to how a character in writing is supposed to look or sound and it’s the same idea that you pointed out here. If he never mentioned that he was autistic, readers who may not know any further information past the content of the book he wrote, may picture him as a normal (neurotypical) man with no mental disablities whatsoever.
Renee,
You bring up an excellent point of how people with autism speak. I have dealt with children who have autism and even have friends and family members who have autistic children. Though I have had experience with autistic children I have not really come to encounter adults with autism. When I watched Schaber’s video and read Higashida’s book they sounded normal in the way they spoke and and wrote. I was one of those people that had a misconception of autism in that I thought autism had to do with the lack of communication. The kids I have dealt with primarily interact through technology and can’t keep eye contact but Schaber was able to do so. I agree with the fact that these resources offer an insight to us as the viewer/reader into the world of autism, which some of us could have understood differently.
Great post Renee! you make great points about communication! I love that you stated that communication is important in ANY relationship not just when concerning “mental illness”. Communication is definitely important and also very difficult at times because you are right, how could we explain something that we really know nothing about? We have all these preconceived ideas about many different groups of people, not just those with autism, that form from the actions or experiences of a small group. We tend to just throw everyone with similar traits in the same pile and call them the same. That is one of the biggest issues we face today. Everything going on in the world today really boils down to lack of communication. If we worked harder to learn what we don’t understand, instead of making our own conclusions about things, we could really break through that “surface” of many issues in the world.