“Look Me in the Eye” offers insight into life with a disorder
John Elder Robison describes a life of contradictions in his new book Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s.
In many ways, Robison is a successful engineering genius. He customized the famous guitars of KISS’ Ace Frehley with lights and smoke bombs and traveled with the band. He later became the sound engineer for Pink Floyd’s sound company, all without earning a high school diploma.
In his book, Robison recounts all these exciting experiences as well as the darker ones that earned him the description of being a social misfit.
He is unable to look people in the eye, a trait that gained him ridicule by teachers and peers while growing up. Unable to control his facial expressions, he often finds himself inappropriately smiling when hearing bad news. Through his life, he’s had trouble learning how to effectively socialize with others despite his strong desire to be accepted.
It wasn’t until he was 40 years old that he found out he had Asperger’s syndrome, which is a form of autism. Affecting about 1 in 150 people according to Robison, Asperger’s is characterized by a lack of normal social skills and a high level of intelligence.
Throughout the book, Robison tells about the difficulty of growing up with a disorder that was not yet characterized or understood. He accepted his differences with disappointed resignation and only recently realized that was “not defective.”
His book is an essential read for anyone who has or knows someone with Asperger’s. People who have never heard of the disorder should pick up this book as well to gain an understanding of someone with a different thought process that does not fit the norm.
The brother of Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors, Robison touches on the troubled childhood the two boys had together with a manic mother and depressed alcoholic father. Those who have read Burroughs’ book or seen the movie adaptation will recognize some of the eccentric characters such as Dr. Fink, the crazy psychologist who prescribed the brothers’ mother into insanity.
Although Robison describes his difficult childhood as a social outcast and victim of abuse, he also tells entertaining and hilarious stories from brighter parts of his life.
One such story is about a time when Robison went on vacation with a band in the Caribbean. While on vacation, he is arrested by club-wielding natives for possession of marijuana seeds, an offense worse than being found with drugs. He spends a night in jail playing music on guitars and glass bottles with the band and guards before being bailed out.
After his days in music, Robison eventually rises to management at several companies, marries twice, has a son and opens his own European car repair and restoration business.
The tale of his struggle to become a functioning and accepted member of society is heartfelt, genuine and enlightening. His logical writing style mimics his thought processes and gives readers an understanding of a man struggling to overcome his differences. It’s hard not to be touched when Robison says, “I have moved from being weird to being eccentric. And let me tell you, it’s a lot better to be eccentric.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Morgan Keys at morgan.keys@colorado.edu.
