Search Results - Higashida, Naoki

Naoki Higashida

is an autistic Japanese writer. His best known work, ''The Reason I Jump'', written when he was thirteen, has been translated into over 30 languages and was adapted for both stage and screen. ''The Economist'' has described him as "probably the most widely read Japanese author after Haruki Murakami".

Higashida's autism is "labelled severe and non-verbal," though he can vocalize in limited contexts. He communicates by pointing to letters on an alphabet grid and sounding them out, with a transcriber writing down what he spells. He has published more than twenty books in Japan since 2004, including fiction, essays, poetry, and autobiographical works about his experience of autism.

Some researchers have questioned the authenticity of Higashida's writing, noting that his earlier communication methods involved physical contact with a facilitator, characteristic of facilitated communication, which is widely rejected by the scientific community. His authorship has not been independently validated through controlled testing. Temple Grandin, while ultimately accepting his authorship of ''The Reason I Jump'', wrote that there should have been more documentation of his ability to communicate independently. Provided by Wikipedia