This autobiography’s description says “Ever since he was young, John Robison longed to connect with other people, but… his odd habits… had earned him the label ‘social deviant.'” While author John Elder Robison’s descriptions of his humiliating childhood failures are heart wrenching, at many times it seems Asperger’s syndrome is the least of his worries. His father spirals down into violent, abusive alcoholism and his mother has repeated psychotic episodes. Even the therapist who convinces Robison’s father to stop beating him goes a bit crazy, growing a white beard and wearing a Santa Claus hat all the time. Robison relates these troubles, as well as his many successes in life, in a matter-of-fact tone that never seems to exploit the tragedies of his life or brag about his successes.
Robison is unstinting is his description of his childhood troubles, and also describes the elaborate, often strange or dangerous, “pranks” he plays. His victims may be individuals who are mean to him or innocent bystanders. Other stories of his exploits are quirky and delightful.
The book becomes more upbeat when Robison moves out of his childhood to the years he worked as a sound engineer for rock bands. Building on his abilities to repair all the equipment in his high school’s language lab, he becomes sought after to repair and modify rock band sound systems; first for small bands and later for the company run by Pink Floyd. Many of the band names are famous: Pink Floyd, Blondie, Judas Priest, Talking Heads, and most especially KISS. Robison designed the first exploding and fire-breathing guitars for KISS. While life on the road with rock bands could be lavish, Robison found the drug and sex scenes creepy and heroin scary. He also found there was little money in his pocket after a tour. He went on to work on sound effects for gaming companies and to found an auto mechanics company that repairs high end cars.
Robison achieves his goals, learns how to interact with the people around him, and makes friends. He becomes a successful husband and father. He even reconciles with his parents: something I am not sure I would be willing to do if I had such a traumatic childhood.
Several chapters offer Robison’s explicit insight into his thought processes. This information will probably help many families cope. His transition to “seeming almost normal” was gradual, though he still calls himself “impaired”. He mentions his own similarities to Colorado State University professor Temple Grandin, who has also written about being an Aspergian. Robison finds that, as he learned more about interacting with people, he lost some of his savant-like abilities. He says he cannot understand some of the electrical circuits he designed when he was younger. But Robison assures the reader that “my story isn’t sad.”
This book is both informative and entertaining. It offers an example of someone whose life really did get better. There is a lengthy “Reading and Resources” section as well. It is a good book for readers who want to understand Aspergians better.
KISS, some time after Robison’s involvement with the band. By Fileri see license conditions
