Special Needs Awareness Month Book Club and Movie Night

Join Temple Emanu-El for an in-person book discussion and a screening of the movie The Reason I Jump.

Written by Naoki Higashida, a thirteen-year-old boy with autism, The Reason I Jump is a memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Through a series of questions and answers punctuated with other bits of insight and a short story that illustrates the isolation he feels, Higashida provides readers with a unique look into the mind of a person with autism.

Using an alphabet grid to painstakingly construct words, sentences, and thoughts that he is unable to speak out loud, Naoki answers even the most delicate questions that people want to know. Questions such as: “Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?” “Why do you line up your toy cars and blocks?” “Why don’t you make eye contact when you’re talking?” and “What’s the reason you jump?”