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Naoki Higashida Biography

Naoki Higashida (東田　直樹, Higashida Naoki, born August 12, 1992) is a Japanese poet, novelist, and essayist. He is one of the most famous writers in Japan. Higashida was diagnosed with autism at the age of 5. He was not able to make himself understood to people around him, and his behaviour was considered erratic.

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Naoki Higashida Quotes

Can you imagine how your life would be if you couldn't talk?

Ifs, Imagine, Life, Talk, Would Be

When you see an object, it seems that you see it as an entire thing first, and only afterwards do its details follow on. But for people with autism, the details jump straight out at us first of all, and then only gradually, detail by detail, does the whole image float up into focus.

Autism, Detail, Focus, Follow, Jump, People

True compassion is about not bruising the other person’s self-respect.

Bruising, Compassion, Persons, Self, Self Respect

Just by looking at nature, I feel as if I'm being swallowed up into it, and in that moment I get the sensation that my body's now a speck, a speck from long before I was born, a speck that is melting into nature herself.

Body, Long, Melting, Moment, Sensation, Speck

Normal people think we're highly dependent and can't live without ongoing support, but in fact there are times when we're stoic heroes.

Dependent, Hero, Heroes, People, Stoic, Thinking

I've learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal-so we can't know for sure what your 'normal' is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I'm not sure how much it matters whether we're normal or autistic.

Autism, Inspiring, Long, Matters, Normal, Strive

But when I’m jumping, it’s as if my feelings are going upward to the sky. Really, my urge to be swallowed up by the sky is enough to make my heart quiver. When I’m jumping, I can feel my body parts really well, too—my bounding legs and my clapping hands—and that makes me feel so, so good.

Good, Hands, Heart, Jumping, Quiver

But I ask you, those of you who are with us all day, not to stress yourselves out because of us. When you do this, it feels as if you're denying any value at all that our lives may have--and that saps the spirit we need to soldier on. The hardest ordeal for us is the idea that we are causing grief for other people. We can put up with our own hardships okay, but the thought that our lives are the source of other people's unhappiness, that's plain unbearable.

Grief, Idea, Ideas, Lives, Stress, Unhappiness

We get swallowed up by the illusion that unless we can find a place to belong, we are going to be all alone in the world.

All Alone, Illusion, Place, World

When I was small, I didn't even know that I was a kid with special needs. How did I find out? By other people telling me that I was different from everyone else, and that this was a problem.

Kid, Kids, People, Small, Special

Everybody has a heart that can be touched by something.

Everybody, Heart, Touched

Criticizing people, winding them up, making idiots of them or fooling them doesn't make people with autism laugh. What makes us smile from the inside is seeing something beautiful, or a memory makes us laugh. This generally happens when there's nobody watching us. And at night, on our own, we might burst out laughing underneath the duvet, or roar with later in an empty room. . . When we don't need to think about other people or anything else, that's when we wear our aural expressions.

Beautiful, Criticizing, Expressions, Memories, Memory, Thinking

The thought that our lives are the source of other people's unhappiness, that's plain unbearable.

People, Source, Thought, Unbearable, Unhappiness

People with autism never, ever feel at ease, wherever we are. Because of this, we wander off - or run away - in search of some location where we do feel at ease. While we're on this search, it doesn't occur to us to consider how or where we're going to end up. We get swallowed up by the illusion that unless we can find a place to belong, we are going to be all alone in the world.

Autism, Ease, People, Running, Unless, World

On our own we simply don't know how to get things done the same way you do things. But, like everyone else, we want to do the best we possibly can. When we sense you've given up on us, it makes us feel miserable. So please keep helping us, through to the end.

Done, Helping, Like, Want, Way