"Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8," by Naoki Higashida

Genre: Nonfiction

Page Count: 200+

Published: 2017 (Penguin Random House)

Potential Triggers: None

Mental Health Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD; as seen in ASD),

For those of you who haven't read my review of Naoki Higashida's first book, here's the link: https://queenfrogblogger.wixsite.com/thefrogblog/post/the-reason-i-jump-by-naoki-higashida. But for those of you who have, let me just say that this book was just as meaningful and amazing as the first.

Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 is a book written by Higashida after he's grown up. It's notes on what he's learned in his adult life, what he's faced, and what he's still thinking about. Gone is the 13-year-old, but still present is the longing for people to just understand what it's like to be nonverbal and/or autistic.

Similar to The Reason I Jump, in this book, it's separated into sections which have different explanations of different things. Unlike The Reason I Jump, however, this book is essentially split into parts and chapters, making it easier to read and understand, while also providing a sort of fluidity between chapters.

Overall, there was a lot of emphasis on this book being for parents and caretakers, but it's my belief that this book can be for anyone who simply wants to understand nonverbal autism. This is one book that sincerely shares what it's like to struggle with comprehension and verbality and anything along those lines, while still seeming like a person in their own right, which is exactly what we should be aiming for here! Higashida is one of my favorite autism rep authors to-date and I would so recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand autism more.