‘From the time he was three or four, John Elder Robison realised that he was different from other people. He was unable to make eye contact or connect with other children, much to his distress, and by the time he was a teenager his odd habits, such as a tendency to blurt out non sequiturs, obsessively dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his little brother in them), had earned him the label ‘social deviant’. It didn’t help that his mother was off her rocker most of the time and his father spent his evenings drinking and terrorising his family. Look Me in the Eye is Robison’s moving and unexpectedly funny story of growing up with Asperger’s syndrome (a form of high-functioning autism) at a time when the diagnosis didn’t even exist. Along the way it also tells the story of two brothers born eight years apart yet devoted to each other: the author and his younger brother, who would grow up to become Augusten Burroughs, author of the bestselling *Running with Scissors* and who has contributed a beautiful foreword to this book. Look Me in the Eye is a wonderful fusion of inspiration, dark comedy and insight into the workings of the human mind. For someone who has struggled all his life to connect with others, Robison proves an extraordinary storyteller -moving effortlessly from haunting descriptions of the adults who made him feel ‘defective’, to his savant-like abilities with electronics, and to terrific stories from his time on tour with rock band KISS (he created their famous special effects). And after reading about how John puzzles over small talk, you’ll never see a simple ‘How are you?’ in quite the same way. Above all, you’ll marvel at the way John worked to overcome the limitations of Asperger’s and gain the connection he always craved: he’s now married with a teenage son and a successful business. This is a must-read for anyone fascinated by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and of course for all those Augusten Burroughs fans.’

For me it was a reminder of how differently people can perceive and understand a situation or a statement, regardless of whether they may have Asperger’s, and how confusing language can be. Yesterday I posted a blast that said “I have my red shoes on :D” and I was asked “what could that mean?” It meant just what it said, I was wearing my red shoes and the ‘:D’ was a cheesy smile because I like red shoes. I suppose Freud or Jung may have other things to say, but I just had my red shoes on.

So what brought me to read that book? I work for an organisation that provides support to self help groups and associations. One of those organisations is Autism Aspergers ACT, a parent support organisation. They have a very comprehensive library and it is part of my job to facilitate access to that library by their members. Over time, I have become quite familiar with the range of books available and have taken the opportunity to read a few myself. I have met some wonderful parents and teachers who put a lot of time and energy into advocating for better services and support for the children and adults that they care for. I’m sure those who have an interest in this area will recognise the names Donna Williams and Tony Attwood, I have listened to both speak at seminars and met them briefly. Extremely interesting people. I also have a 15 yr old niece who has Aspergers. I accidently got her on the phone yesterday while trying to phone my sister. My sister was visiting my mother, but Hannah told me she didn’t know where her mum was (she knew she was visiting, but she just didn’t know exactly where her mum was at that moment).

Yesterday I went to an art exhibition with my mother and my sister. It was an exhibition of landscape paintings gathered from many different galleries with paintings by artists such as Turner, Constable, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Suerat and some Australians, Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubin and Charles Conder. We then had lunch by the lake at the yacht club…very civilised it was.

Today has been one of those grey cold days. The sky has been cloudy and threatening but it just hasn’t got to raining. I had a sleep in, something I don’t get to do very often. Penny got up even later than I did so we made egg and bacon sandwiches for lunch. The Currawongs are woop woop churrup-ing, winter is here.