John Elder Robison

Well, I sure got quite a jolt of excitement and nervousness when I wrote about the book Look Me in the Eye and received a comment from the author himself, John Elder Robison.  I literally couldn't go to sleep that night!  Jared kept texting me the next day saying things like, "Hey, aren't you that girl who got a blog comment from a famous author?"  The whole thing made me giddy.

I spent a little time on his website and looking at his other two books (which I would now like to read).  Then today my friend sent me two YouTube videos of a show that Mr. Robison appeared on for Discovery Science Channel called "Ingenious Minds."

It was fascinating to watch!  I really enjoyed the visuals of things I had read about in his book (photos, drawings, etc.).  I also enjoyed hearing his voice and watching/listening to him speak after I had already learned so much about his life and tried to imagine what it was really like.  The scientific research portion of the video is also quite intriguing.  You can watch the videos here (Part 1 of 2 and part 2 of 2):

 

 
I learned new things I didn't know from Look Me in the Eye.  For example, John has since divorced the wife he spoke about in Chapter 27 of the book and has remarried.  Also, his son has been diagnosed with Asperger's, which is the topic of his newest book Raising Cubby. 

Robison has done incredible work shedding light on Asperger's and helping so many people understand Aspergians more.  His story is eye-opening and inspiring.  It helped me as a mom to a child with Asperger's, and he helped lift my spirits just by leaving a brief comment on some housewife's blog.  What a rush this little adventure has been right in the middle of my mundane week!

I guess you just never know when you might cross paths with someone important.

Jessica