Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habitsan inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holeshad earned him the label social deviant. No guidance came from his mother or his father. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on. After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS. Later, he drifted into a real job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be normal and do what he simply couldnt: communicate. It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Aspergers syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himselfand the world. Robison also provides a fascinating reverse angle on the younger brother he left at the mercy of their nutty parentsthe boy who would later change his name to Augusten Burroughs. Ultimately, this is the story of Robisons journey from his world into ours, a strange, sly, indelible accountsometimes alien, yet always deeply human.