Naoki Higashida

Naoki Higashida is the book's author. Higashida is a young Japanese man living with autism and was thirteen years old at the time he wrote The Reason I Jump. Although he has great difficulty communicating verbally, he has learned to use an alphabet grid developed by his mother, enabling him to communicate his thoughts in writing and it is this tool that enabled him to write the book. Higashida is bright, insightful, and inquisitive -- traits he wants his audience to know are common to people with autism even though they are not always apparent. Through his writing, the author wants very much to help others understand why people with autism behave the way they do and learn to communicate more effectively and with greater patience and understanding.

David Mitchell

David Mitchell is the father of a son who has autism, the husband of the book's...