Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to get a discussion started for The Reason I Jump:
1. What new insights have you gained by reading Naoki Higashida's book? What surprised you most about his depiction of what it is like to be autistic?
2. David Mitchell says that the problems of socialization and communication people with autism display "are not symptoms of autism but consequences." What does he mean exactly...what is the difference as Mitchell sees it?
3. Talk about Naoki's statement that autism may be a result of our civilization's growing disconnect with nature:
I think that people with autism are born outside the regime of civilisation… [in which] a deep sense of crisis exists… Autism has somehow arisen out of this… if, by our being here, we could help the people of the world remember what truly matters for the Earth, that would give us a quiet pleasure.
What do you think of that assessment? Is there any truth in what Naoki says?
4. Talk about the way in which Naoki believes that he and others with autism feel a sense of guilt: "The hardest ordeal for us is the idea that we are causing grief for other people." What would you say (or have you said) to Naoki or any other individual with autism.
5. Naoki indicates that language, which the rest of us use to communicate feelings, actually get in the way of feelings: that language is simply incapable of conveying our astonishment at the world. Have you ever felt the inadequacy of words to describe your own experiences?
6. Do you know someone, a friend or a member of your own family, with autism? If so, how true does this book ring for you?
7. What is the state of treatment and/or understanding of autism today? What do we (society and the medical profession) need to learn about autism? Does this book help? Will it make a difference?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)