Naoki Higashida

Naoki Higashida (東田 直樹, Higashida Naoki; born August 12, 1992) is a Japanese man with severe, non-verbal autism^[1] to whom more than twenty books have been attributed since 2004, including fiction, essays, poetry, and autobiographical works about the experience of autism.^[2] The best known of these, The Reason I Jump, attributed to Higashida at age thirteen, has been translated into over 30 languages and was adapted for both stage and screen.^[3] The Economist has described him as "probably the most widely read Japanese author after Haruki Murakami".^[4]

Higashida's communication method has evolved over time. He initially used "hand-supported writing", in which an assistant cups the back of the writer's hand, and "letter-tracing", in which he traced letters onto a transcriber's palm. He later transitioned to pointing at letters on an alphabet grid while a transcriber writes down what he spells out.^[5][4] The authenticity of Higashida's authorship is disputed. Facilitated communication (FC) and related techniques, including some of the methods Higashida has used, are considered pseudoscience by mainstream scientific and professional organizations, which hold that the facilitator rather than the disabled person is typically the source of the communication.^[6] Some researchers maintain that Higashida has demonstrated independent authorship,^[7] while others argue there is no scientific documentation of this.^[6]

Higashida was born on August 12, 1992,^[8] in Kimitsu, Japan.^[9] He lives in Chiba Prefecture outside Tokyo with his parents and sister, who is a year and a half older than him.^[10] Higashida was diagnosed with autism when he was five years old.^[11] His autism is "labelled severe and non-verbal".^[1] According to an interview in The Asahi Shimbun, he became aware of his disability in kindergarten, when he had difficulty doing things that seemed to come easily to the other children.^[11]

Higashida's mother has said that he had an interest in words as a child and "would memorise the words he saw on signs and products, and write them on magnetic drawing boards or in the air."^[12] He attended a local primary school until fifth grade and then moved to a school for students with special needs. According to The Asahi Shimbun, "Higashida's mother noticed his power of expression and encouraged him to write poems and short stories." At ages 11 and 12, Higashida won first prize in a Japanese writing competition, the Grimm Fairy Tales Contest.^[11]

He graduated from Atmark Cosmopolitan High School via correspondence in 2011.^[13]

Higashida is generally unable to have spoken conversations,^[1] though he can sometimes exchange a few words.^[14] Researchers Deborah Fein and Yoko Kamio say "when Naoki does speak, although the content is limited, his articulation and fluency are almost unimpaired", but also that he has "atypical prosody";^[6] prosody refers to elements of speech such as speed and intonation.^[15] He can sing,^[16] repeat back what someone else has said (echolalia),^[5][17] and sometimes read aloud.^[16][17]

According to text attributed to Higashida in Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8, his communication began with "hand-supported writing", in which he wrote on paper with a pen while an assistant cupped the back of his hand, and "letter-tracing", in which he traced letters onto the open palm of a transcriber. He later transitioned to an alphabet grid, which he describes as being used "without anyone's help and without any physical contact".^[5]: 205 According to the same text, he credits the efforts of his mother and Ms. Suzuki, a teacher at the Hagukumi School,^[16] a juku focused on supporting students with disabilities.^[18] The "hand-supported writing" and "letter-tracing" methods he initially used involve physical contact between the communicator and an assistant, a hallmark of facilitated communication, which is widely rejected by the scientific community.^[6]

His cardboard alphabet board^[19] has a QWERTY layout,^[20] as well as the words "yes", "no", and "finished".^[1] When using the alphabet board, he points to individual letters and voices them aloud, while a transcriber writes down what he spells out.^[4] He also uses a computer keyboard, though according to text attributed to him, typing is more difficult because of the extra steps required to convert Roman letters to Japanese kanji.^[14][20]

More than twenty books of fiction and non-fiction have been published under Higashida's name in Japan since 2004.^[2] The Reason I Jump, attributed to Higashida at age 13, was published in Japan in 2007.^[21] The book features 58 often-asked questions about autism and answers attributed to Higashida.^[11][22] According to Higashida's mother, the book grew out of questions she would ask him as she tried to understand some of his behavior.^[12]

The book was a success in Japan,^[22] and in 2013, it was translated into English by the author David Mitchell and his wife, KA Yoshida.^[21] The translation rose to the top of Amazon's United States and British best-seller lists,^[22] and was also on The New York Times and The Sunday Times best-seller lists.^[3] As of 2017, it had been translated into 34 other languages.^[23] Over one million copies have sold worldwide,^[3] and it was later adapted into a play^[24] and a film.^[3] Mitchell has said that the book is sometimes used for teacher training with special education teachers,^[23] and has spoken of the book's personal impact on him, calling it a "revelatory godsend".^[22] He said it shifted his attitude toward treating his own severely autistic son as someone with "intelligence and imagination".^[23]

In 2017, Yoshida and Mitchell translated another book attributed to Higashida, Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8,^[23] which covers some of the same territory as The Reason I Jump from the perspective of a young adult, and includes a short story^[23] and an interview The Big Issue Japan magazine conducted with Higashida.^[2] The book's title refers to a Japanese proverb about perseverance.^[4]

In addition to autobiographical works, picture books, other children's books, fables, essays, and poems have been published under Higashida's name.^[5][3] The Economist states that he is "probably the most widely read Japanese author after Haruki Murakami",^[4] and Mitchell has said that Murakami is the only Japanese author whose work has been translated into more languages.^[1] Forbes Japan chose him as one of their "30 under 30" in 2021.^[25]

Higashida also gives presentations in Japan.^[13] According to reports, in his presentations he reads aloud text that was prepared in advance and then answers questions by typing.^[17][3]

Higashida appeared in the 2011 documentary Wretches & Jabberers,^[26][9] and was featured in two programs produced by Japanese public broadcasting: What You Taught Me About My Son (2014),^[10] and What You Taught Me About Happiness (2017).^[27] What You Taught Me About My Son was awarded the Prix Italia SIGNIS Special Prize in 2015.^[28]

The authenticity of Higashida's authorship has been the subject of significant debate, reflecting the broader scientific consensus that facilitated communication (FC) is not a reliable method of communication. Major scientific and professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, have concluded that in FC, it is typically the facilitator, not the disabled person, who is the source of the communication.^[6]

In their 2014 commentary, researchers Deborah Fein and Yoko Kamio reported that in a 2009 video of Higashida they reviewed, his mother was usually touching his shoulder, back or leg, and might be cuing him. In combination with evidence from a 2009 presentation and transcript, they questioned whether Higashida wrote The Reason I Jump.^[6] Scott Lilienfeld et al. said "there is at present no scientific documentation of Higashida's achievements".^[29] Katharine Beals has said she knows of no evidence that Higashida can "communicate without a facilitator within cueing range".^[30] William Simmons, Janyce Boynton, and Todd Landman doubt that Higashida wrote any of the books attributed to him, and argue that if someone else is the actual author, then it is a human rights concern to claim that Higashida authored these works, giving him no control over what is attributed to him.^[31]

Temple Grandin, an autistic inventor and author, was initially concerned that The Reason I Jump might have been written using facilitated communication, but later satisfied herself that the book was Higashida's own work. However, Grandin wrote that there should have been more documentation on his ability to communicate independently.^[7] Melanie Heyworth, Timothy Chan, and Wenn Lawson describe Higashida as having "irrefutably demonstrated cognitive and communicative competence".^[32] Casey Woodfield and Justin Freedman say that Higashida wrote The Reason I Jump, and question the kinds of evidence various researchers do and do not accept, criticizing Lilienfeld et al. for failing to state what would constitute "scientific documentation".^[33] Anna Remington, writing in The Lancet, draws on Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 to counter the stereotype of autistic people as "cold, emotionless, and unempathic".^[34]

Mitchell has said there are videos of Higashida typing independently,^[23][35] and that nobody else's hand is near Higashida's during his use of the alphabet board.^[19] Mitchell objects to the idea that Higashida should have to prove he is the author of the works attributed to him.^[19]

The following books have been published under Higashida's name:

• Jihei to iu boku no sekai, 自閉というぼくの世界, 2004 (My World of Autism)
• kono hoshi ni sunde iru boku no nakama tachi e, この地球にすんでいる僕の仲間たちへ, 2005 (To My Colleagues Living on This Planet)
• Yuuki wa oishii hazu, 勇気はおいしいはず, 2005 (Courage Should Be Delicious)
• Minna no shiranai umi no oto, みんなの知らない海の音, 2005 (Sound of the Ocean That Everyone Does Not Know)
• Kiran kiran; Akai mi, きらんきらん・赤い実, 2005 (Kiran Kiran; Red Fruit)
• Kikansha Kansuke, きかんしゃカンスケ, 2006 (Architect Kansuke)
• Kansuke to akai happa, カンスケとあかいはっぱ, 2006 (Kansuke and the Red Leaf)
• Jiheisho no boku ga tobihaneru riyu, 自閉症の僕が跳びはねる理由, 2007 (The Reason I Jump) Translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell, 2013
• Kansuke to katatsumuri kun, カンスケとかたつむりくん, 2007 (Kansuke and the Little Snail)
• Kansuke to Yukiko chan, カンスケとゆきこちゃん, 2007 (Kansuke and Yukiko)
• Jiheisho no boku ga nokosite kita kotoba tachi, 自閉症の僕が残してきた言葉たち, 2008 (The Words I Have Left of Autism)
• Hentekorin, ヘンテコリン, 2008 (Strange)
• Kansuke no kurisumasu, カンスケのクリスマス, 2008 (Kansuke's Christmas)
• Zoku jiheisho no boku ga tobihaneru riyu, 続・自閉症の僕が跳びはねる理由, 2010 (The Reason I Jump, part 2)
• Kaze ni naru, 風になる, 2012 (Become the Wind)
• Arugamama ni jiheisho desu, あるがままに自閉症です, 2013 (Autistic As It Is)
• Tobihaneru shiko, 飛びはねる思考, 2014 (Jumping Spirit)
• Arigato wa boku no mimi ni kodama suru, ありがとうは僕の耳にこだまする, 2014 (Thank You, Echoes in My Ears)
• Nanakorobi yaoki, 七転び八起き, 2015 (Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8) Translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell, 2017

• Naoki Higashida's website