My night with John Robison

November 15, 9:04 AMHartford Special Needs Kids ExaminerDanna Mann

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Hartford Special Needs Kids Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Last night I had the great pleasure of meeting with John Robison, the author of a New York Bestseller.  Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Aspergers is an incredible book, it tells of his life and the many obstacles he had to over come all the while not knowing he had aspergers.  As he had described to it to me he felt “defective” as a child.  It’s a book of inspiration for any child who has aspergers.

My evening began with a one on one with Mr. Robison.  I had a small list of questions that not only my daughter but other children I had spoken to with autism wanted to know.  He readily answered all of the questions while enjoying a chocolate muffin.  As the night went on it came closer to the time that he was to speak and we decided to take our meeting out into the book store.  While John stood in line waiting for a re-fill a woman and her daughter noticed him, she introduced herself.  Her daughter has aspergers and she drove about three hours from New Jersey to see him.  This is the kind of impact this book has had.  John lit up as he spoke to her daughter who seemed painfully shy.  As I watched from a distance I saw how he came alive for the first time that night.  Soon a small group of about six women gathered in the back of store to hear him speak.  Some had seen him before and had returned again, not being able to get enough.  Most, if not all of us were mothers to children with aspergers or autism, and we needed answers.  Who better to get our information from than someone who has already lived the life our children are only starting.

He spoke in a profound way, telling about how he could see in his mind the circuits and gears that he so loves.  He could see and feel music in a way most will never understand.  The questions I had asked him earlier that evening were asked again by the other woman.  Such as why did he write the book?  His answer was simple; he wanted other kids to know that he was not stupid, retarded or weird like other children told him he was.  He had grown up, though it was not easy, but he was okay.  He is a successful adult; he’s done things that most of us only dream of.  He worked on Microvision the early version of gameboy, designed rocket shooting guitars for KISS and thought up music for some of the greatest bands in the seventies.  His creations are heard and seen all over the world, all this from the kid who was called stupid. 

He also told about the project he is working with now, called TMS.  It is a study being held at Harvard that deals with sending high magnetic fields into specific spots in an apergian brain.  It stimulates electrodes in the brain changing the way one thinks.  He has participated in this study and states that there has been a marked improvement in his social skills.  More can be read about this in his blog jerobison.blogspot.com/2008/11/summary-of-my-tms-posts.html.

In the end John would like children to take away from this book that they can be proud of who they are, embrace their differences and succeed in life.  He admits that life for them may not be easy in the beginning but good will come out of the bad.  About two and half hours later it was getting late, we all had to get home.  I was impressed by the compassion and comradery that the women had for one another.  What struck me the most was the offer from one mother to another.  She offered a place to sleep the night to the woman and beautiful little girl from Jersey.  There is a connection that these women feel, we understand how hard it is to see our children whom we love, be ridiculed and singled out.  This will be a night that I will remember for many years to come.  I experienced so many wonderful emotions, as I can only hope these women felt as well.  

John Robison is participating in the WGBY Book Fair at Barnes and Noble in surrounding towns.  If you get the chance to go to one of these events I highly suggest it, just being able to speak to him is worth the trip.  He is profound, captivating and proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Please visit www.WGBY.org for more information on times and the places he will be appearing.