Episode 2

With remarkable insight and openness, Naoki Higashida describes the delight of being able to communicate with others, a rare joy for him, since his autism makes it difficult for him to speak easily, or access the words he would like to say.

Naoki describes spoken language as a blue sea, on which he sits alone, stuck in a tiny boat while others swim and play - and the wonder with which he experiences being able to communicate in writing, as a magic spell which allows him to dive deep beneath the waves of language, and then break the surface, and surprise everyone.

Most of this book was written around the age of 18, painstakingly, Japanese syllable by syllable, using a low-tech Alphabet Grid. And, from the Alphabet Grid of the insider, he reveals the pain of being non-verbal, and the depth of love and gratitude he feels for his family.

Most compellingly, he reveals autism as simply a different way of being, and of seeing.

Written by Naoki Higashida.

Translated by David Mitchell and KA Yoshida

Read by Matthew Beard, and introduced by David Mitchell.

Abridged by Robin Brooks.

Producer: Allegra McIlroy

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2017.