I do know that some of you may have personal objections to Jon Stewart either due to his political views (which I mostly agree with) or because of his annual "Night of Too Many Stars" event, but I do think that this interview last night (U.S.) was a positive one for the cause of understanding autism.
On October 1, Jon Stewart conducted an interview with David Mitchell for a book that Mr. Mitchell helped in the process of translating from Japanese to English. It's titled "The Reason I Jump" and is basically a question/answer session with Naoki Higashida, a then 13 year-old boy (about 8 years ago), who answers various questions that he's often asked in regards to his status as someone with classic autism. I'm about 40% through with the book (I bought it yesterday right after the interview) and I will say that I personally could relate to his story, from his thoughts about the burden that he feels like having a body he can't always maintain control over, his belief that those of us with autism shouldn't be treated as if we're any less, to accepting autism as a part of his identity instead of something that he'd like to have cured.
Knowing that this is also Mental Health Awareness month (though on an unrelated note, it's also Breast Cancer Awareness month, LGBT History Awareness month, and Hispanic Heritage month) I do recommend that if you can, to read this book and maybe share it with a loved one since I find it helpful in understanding myself and how autism actually has affected me (the fact that I was diagnosed late still, to some degree, makes it seem like I might just be "faking" autism even though I know that's not the case at all) and sharing this with someone could potentially open their minds to what we actually face as individuals with this condition, even though many of us are at the milder end of the spectrum.
The link to the interview is http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-1-2013/david-mitchell.
The English translation of the book can be found on Amazon and ordered as either an e-book for your Kindle app/device, an audiobook, or as a hardcover and costs $10 for either the e-book or audiobook and $13 or $14 for the paper copy.
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Diagnosed with PDD-NOS (and possible Asperger's) on October 30, 2012. Might not be ideal having so many labels (gay and Filipino as well) but I'm at least glad I can accept and embrace it.
03 Oct 2013, 1:57 am
