Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • Leaderboard
    • The CBR Team
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Health > I bet that golden ticket makes the chocolate taste terrible

I bet that golden ticket makes the chocolate taste terrible

Switched On by John Elder Robison

February 14, 2020 by octothorp Leave a Comment

The elevator pitch for this book is “Awakenings for Autism,” but it’s obviously more than that. John Robison is pretty up front about – well, everything because of that aforementioned Autism, but more importantly – becoming the voice of high functioning Autism (previously Asperger’s) by virtue of having written a memoir and without any scientific background in neuroscience. Which isn’t entirely fair, because Look Me In the Eye is an exceptionally well crafted memoir that gives the reader a sense of how Robison thinks, not just what.

This book follows Robison’s involvement in a research study for transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain as it applies to autism; his autism advocacy and writing led researchers to him for potential test subjects, and Robison’s curiosity led him to volunteer himself.

The study involves micropulses of magnetic stimulation to very small areas of the brain which stimulate or inhibit certain responses, and Robison memorably describes one test done for fun where the language center of his brain was temporarily turned off – knowing the purpose of a doorknob but conceptualizing it only in images rather than words, an absence of internal monologue. (HOW COOL IS THAT?  I wanna do it.) The actual study itself made me want to throw it all away and work in neuroscience – Robison spoke about it on NPR at one point, so it wasn’t all new to me, but he discussed an epiphany after the first round of TMS, where the emotion of a song that he had heard multiple times before dispassionately was suddenly real to him in a way it hadn’t been before. (I should clarify, the TMS was intended to learn more about how autism affects the brain and to help with social processing, but not to “cure it).

This was not the best book for me to be reading while I waited to hear if I got a job I applied for in medical research.

Robison writes movingly of his gains with TMS, but also acknowledges losses – he writes about how autism allowed him to be logical in stressful situations, how it shielded him from the worst of his wife’s depression, and how his autism blinded him to false friendships that were revealed once his social awareness improved.

I need to stop writing, because I want everyone to read this book. Go buy it.

 

Filed Under: Health, Non-Fiction Tagged With: autism, John Elder Robison

octothorp's CBR12 Review No:23 · Genres: Health, Non-Fiction · Tags: autism, John Elder Robison ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

About octothorp

CBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participantCBR  9

I buy books faster than I can read them. View octothorp's reviews»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • Ellesfena on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodOn Your Toes, Susie! I had completely forgotten that book until just now. I agree about the Betsy-Tacy books too, those were so magical. Did...
  • Nart on Don’t Judge THIS Book by the Cover (seriously)Couldn't agree more. Whoever designed the cover really did the author dirty. It's such a lovely, soul filling book sold as a cheap... Well... Beach...
  • Emmalita on Spoiler Alert: This Book is Nothing but Fun & Sexy TimesI loved this, it was one of my favorite reads last year. Olivia Dade has become one of my auto-buy authors.
  • Malin on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodAs a child, I loved the works of Astrid Lindgren, especially Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (the first chapter book I ever completed on my own...
  • ElCicco on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodWhen I was little, the cupboard full of books was right outside my bedroom, and when I was supposed to go to sleep, I would...
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in