Naoki Higashida quotes

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. (Naoki Higashida)

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.

Naoki Higashida

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.

Naoki Higashida

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.

Naoki Higashida

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.

Naoki Higashida

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.

Naoki Higashida

Everybody has a heart that can be touched by something.

Naoki Higashida

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.

Naoki Higashida

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.

Naoki Higashida

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

Naoki Higashida

Can you imagine how your life would be if you couldn't talk? (Naoki Higashida)

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.

Naoki Higashida