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casehouse's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe more like 2.5 stars. Not my favorite of Robison's books. He shares his experience with TMS (a type of magnetic brain stimulations) as part of a research study involving people with autism. The science doesn't seem to quite bear out that others will experience the same type of "emotional awakening" that Robison did. Still a promising area of future research.
ladynigelia's review against another edition
5.0
I have been recommending this book to pretty much everyone I can. It took me a really long time to get through it because I started with the audiobook, but had to switch to the ebook. And there isn't really a plot so I didn't feel any urgency to find out what happens. However, the lack of plot does not mean lack of interesting or engaging scenes! I really enjoyed listening to Mr. Robison talk about prosody while being able to actively hear exactly what he means when he says he has significantly more vocal range than he did before TMS.
The whole book is really just explaining how his life is different before and after TMS in a variety of different ways. He needs to establish how things used to be in order to fully explain why it's such a big deal that it changed. I think that means I don't need to read his older book [b:Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's|454856|Look Me in the Eye My Life with Asperger's|John Elder Robison|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320509615s/454856.jpg|2119898] but I might be able to be convinced.
The reason I suggest this to everyone is because it really causes me to think about how I interact with different people. I have my fair share of friends/family who are on the autism spectrum and I've really tried to take into account the different ways they evaluate the same situations as I do, but this book really highlighted many varieties of differences I hadn't considered before. It is an excellent exercise in empathy for everyone, regardless of their neurological patterns.
Throughout the book Mr. Robison is very careful to make it clear that this book is HIS experience. He does not speak for everyone with Autism, nor does he speak for everyone who received TMS treatments. He is simply relating his life, his memories, and his thoughts. I'm glad he does this because it really makes it clear that he wants to help as many people as he can, as best he can but he knows that what worked for him isn't the solution for everyone. A very compassionate stance from somebody who wouldn't necessarily considered that at all prior to the TMS treatments.
The whole book is really just explaining how his life is different before and after TMS in a variety of different ways. He needs to establish how things used to be in order to fully explain why it's such a big deal that it changed. I think that means I don't need to read his older book [b:Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's|454856|Look Me in the Eye My Life with Asperger's|John Elder Robison|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320509615s/454856.jpg|2119898] but I might be able to be convinced.
The reason I suggest this to everyone is because it really causes me to think about how I interact with different people. I have my fair share of friends/family who are on the autism spectrum and I've really tried to take into account the different ways they evaluate the same situations as I do, but this book really highlighted many varieties of differences I hadn't considered before. It is an excellent exercise in empathy for everyone, regardless of their neurological patterns.
Throughout the book Mr. Robison is very careful to make it clear that this book is HIS experience. He does not speak for everyone with Autism, nor does he speak for everyone who received TMS treatments. He is simply relating his life, his memories, and his thoughts. I'm glad he does this because it really makes it clear that he wants to help as many people as he can, as best he can but he knows that what worked for him isn't the solution for everyone. A very compassionate stance from somebody who wouldn't necessarily considered that at all prior to the TMS treatments.
shawnwhy's review against another edition
5.0
love it, has some great insight into the autistic mind, the awakening experience is especially well described.
zinnia101's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Excellent book! It was informative and at times quite heartfelt and insightful. I felt myself getting invested and emotional as his relationships changed. The research was really interesting and the best part was the nuance around treatment. Most books about autism make me feel crappy, insecure, and broken. I didn’t feel that here although I related to their struggles to adapt to social situations and acknowledge mistakes they’d made due to autism. He also highlighted the many strengths he had from autism and shared a lot of hope for how he had managed to live a successful life before treatment and also how treatment had improved different aspects of his life. At times it was a bit dense or technical, but overall it was a well thought out book and definitely a positive one for any autistic adult to read.
mtmarriott's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Makes a very compelling case for TMS therapy as a future treatment for not just autism but all mental health conditions but it doesn’t shy away from the potential consequences of abusing it as a resource. Robison is a very readable writer and I love how digestible he makes the autistic experience in his writing as well as the science behind TMS.
scribepub's review against another edition
In this fascinating book John Elder Robison raises deep questions: what does TMS do to the brain? Will it permanently change his experience of music, his emotions, and his ability to read faces? And if autism involves disability as well as talent, if we alter the different wiring in an autistic brain, is this a good thing? Robison’s honest, brilliant, and very personal account helps us understand the perspective of someone living with autism.
Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor, Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University
John Elder Robison is an extraordinary guide, carefully elucidating the cutting-edge science behind this revolutionary new brain therapy, TMS, alongside the compelling story of the impact it has on his relationships, his thinking and emotions, and indeed his very identity. At the heart of Switched On are fundamental questions of who we are, of where our identity resides, of difference and disability and free will, which are brought into sharp focus by Robison’s lived experience.Graeme Simsion, Author of The Rosie Effect
Switched On is a mind-blowing book that will force you to ask deep questions about what is important in life. Would normalising the brains of those who think differently reduce their motivation for great achievement?
Temple Garden
Switched On is an eye-opening book with a radical message … The transformations [John Elder Robison] undergoes throughout the book are astonishing — as foreign and overwhelming as if he woke up one morning with the visual range of a bee or the auditory prowess of a bat.
Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
Astonishing, brave … Switched On details Robison’s discovery of his rich new emotional life … Switched On reads like a medical thriller and keeps you wondering what will happen next … [Robison] takes readers for a ride through the thorny thickets of neuroscience and leaves us wanting more. He is deft at explaining difficult concepts and doesn’t shy from asking hard questions. This is a truly unusual memoir — both poignant and scientifically important.
Amy Ellis Nutt, The Washington Post
[H]onest, scientific, personal, and full of rock and roll … After Robison was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, he participated in an experimental transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study, which changed his life. Robison reflects on what he learned while delving into the science behind autism treatment and celebrating the people who were with him through truly difficult moments along a path of self-discovery … Robison's memoir contains as much vulnerability and honesty as it does discussions of neuroscience and autism.
Publishers Weekly
Fascinating for its insights into Asperger’s and research, this engrossing record will make readers reexamine their preconceptions about this syndrome and the future of brain manipulation.
Booklist
Like books by Andrew Solomon and Oliver Sacks, Switched On offers an opportunity to consider mental processes through a combination of powerful narrative and informative medical context. Readers can put their hands, for a moment, on the mystery that is the brain.
BookPage
A fascinating companion to the previous memoirs by this masterful storyteller.
Kirkus Reviews
Both memoir and neurological study — and, no doubt about it, neurology is a trending new reading topic.
Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor, Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University
John Elder Robison is an extraordinary guide, carefully elucidating the cutting-edge science behind this revolutionary new brain therapy, TMS, alongside the compelling story of the impact it has on his relationships, his thinking and emotions, and indeed his very identity. At the heart of Switched On are fundamental questions of who we are, of where our identity resides, of difference and disability and free will, which are brought into sharp focus by Robison’s lived experience.Graeme Simsion, Author of The Rosie Effect
Switched On is a mind-blowing book that will force you to ask deep questions about what is important in life. Would normalising the brains of those who think differently reduce their motivation for great achievement?
Temple Garden
Switched On is an eye-opening book with a radical message … The transformations [John Elder Robison] undergoes throughout the book are astonishing — as foreign and overwhelming as if he woke up one morning with the visual range of a bee or the auditory prowess of a bat.
Jennifer Senior, The New York Times
Astonishing, brave … Switched On details Robison’s discovery of his rich new emotional life … Switched On reads like a medical thriller and keeps you wondering what will happen next … [Robison] takes readers for a ride through the thorny thickets of neuroscience and leaves us wanting more. He is deft at explaining difficult concepts and doesn’t shy from asking hard questions. This is a truly unusual memoir — both poignant and scientifically important.
Amy Ellis Nutt, The Washington Post
[H]onest, scientific, personal, and full of rock and roll … After Robison was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, he participated in an experimental transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study, which changed his life. Robison reflects on what he learned while delving into the science behind autism treatment and celebrating the people who were with him through truly difficult moments along a path of self-discovery … Robison's memoir contains as much vulnerability and honesty as it does discussions of neuroscience and autism.
Publishers Weekly
Fascinating for its insights into Asperger’s and research, this engrossing record will make readers reexamine their preconceptions about this syndrome and the future of brain manipulation.
Booklist
Like books by Andrew Solomon and Oliver Sacks, Switched On offers an opportunity to consider mental processes through a combination of powerful narrative and informative medical context. Readers can put their hands, for a moment, on the mystery that is the brain.
BookPage
A fascinating companion to the previous memoirs by this masterful storyteller.
Kirkus Reviews
Both memoir and neurological study — and, no doubt about it, neurology is a trending new reading topic.
Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
mhall's review against another edition
3.0
Surely at some point you've asked yourself, "Fucking magnets, how do they work?" While reading this, I was amazed at the straightforward and useful explanation of electromagnets. This account of transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy for autism is interesting as it chronicles how the author's emotional perceptions changed after the course of treatments. In his 50s, he had decades of living to compare the differences to, and his realizations are striking. Descriptions of the treatments themselves weren't hard to read, unless like me you hate reading about medical settings - white coat syndrome for literature. So I skipped some of it.
jonathanwallace's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this on audiobook.
I feel asleep a few times listening before a nap and heard snippets that were really scary at times.
Any time that I slow down and think of the preciousness and fickleness of “me” or “us” is intimidating and fear inspiring.
Also, hearing how stark our ignorance may be adds to the fear.
Interesting that the ignorance in this story is emotional awareness which I’ve struggled with at times though not to the degree that the author describes here.
We all carry around limited capacity for understanding which makes the minuscule experience we do have all the more sacred.
I feel asleep a few times listening before a nap and heard snippets that were really scary at times.
Any time that I slow down and think of the preciousness and fickleness of “me” or “us” is intimidating and fear inspiring.
Also, hearing how stark our ignorance may be adds to the fear.
Interesting that the ignorance in this story is emotional awareness which I’ve struggled with at times though not to the degree that the author describes here.
We all carry around limited capacity for understanding which makes the minuscule experience we do have all the more sacred.
diane's review against another edition
4.0
Intriguing memoir about adventures in changing the brain. Robison undergoes TMS therapy to see how it affects his autistic brain. The effects are both amazing and devastating, and indicate there's a lot of work to be done in the field of neuroplasticity.
cameliarose's review against another edition
4.0
A man with high-functioning Asperger syndrome signed on for a TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Simulation) study lead by a Harvard scientist and this book is the memoir of his life and changes (the emotional awakenings) afterwards. The author himself and a lot readers compared him to the protagonist in [b:Flowers for Algernon|36576608|Flowers for Algernon|Daniel Keyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1510416245l/36576608._SY75_.jpg|3337594], except the author's story has a kind of happy ending. The book is repetitive at times, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
What strikes me most is how intelligent, persistent and self-motivated the author is. A living example of Neuro-diversity. As a high school outcast and dropout, he became a successful self-taught sound engineering and later car mechanics. As a sound engineer, he worked with famous bands such as Kiss. He is also a self-taught photographer. Before Switched On, he had already published several books, including an eye opening memoir [b:Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's|454856|Look Me in the Eye My Life with Asperger's|John Elder Robison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320509615l/454856._SY75_.jpg|2119898]. It was Look Me in the Eye that got him attention from scientific community which lead him to being recruited by Alvaro Pascual-Leon and his team for their TMS study on autistic patients.
While the author welcomed his emotional awakening, he was also aware of its dark side. Feeling too much is overwhelming. Feeling your loved one's depression can be life-crushing. To get an understanding of what happened in the past can turn good memories into sad ones.
The author had many thoughtful observations and questionings throughout the book, part from his own experiences, part from autism community. Let me list a few:
1. Does today's education system focus too much on paper-based course work instead of hands-on practices such as car mechanics, and is this the reason (partially at least) autistic children today having a harder time in school?
2. If you "cure" autism children of a young age, do you rid of their creativity too?
3. The emotional sensitivity and the people-reading instincts brought directly by TMS treatment faded after a period of time, but the author felt lasting changes. Is it because the "use or lose it" principle and the author tried hard to use it?
4. Why older adults (such as the author) get better outcome from TMS than younger ones (such as Nick)? Is it because older people have experienced more of the downside of being autistic therefore more motivated?
Nick is a very interesting case, a teen who almost recovered from his autism after several TMS treatment yet reverted back to his old ways. Worst (from his parents' point of view) of all, Nick refused to try any further treatment. Was he not able to or not wanting to? The author seemed to think that Nick wanted to his old way--dealing with emotions of his and people around him was overwhelming, therefore he was not motivated to achieve any long lasting changes.
What strikes me most is how intelligent, persistent and self-motivated the author is. A living example of Neuro-diversity. As a high school outcast and dropout, he became a successful self-taught sound engineering and later car mechanics. As a sound engineer, he worked with famous bands such as Kiss. He is also a self-taught photographer. Before Switched On, he had already published several books, including an eye opening memoir [b:Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's|454856|Look Me in the Eye My Life with Asperger's|John Elder Robison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320509615l/454856._SY75_.jpg|2119898]. It was Look Me in the Eye that got him attention from scientific community which lead him to being recruited by Alvaro Pascual-Leon and his team for their TMS study on autistic patients.
While the author welcomed his emotional awakening, he was also aware of its dark side. Feeling too much is overwhelming. Feeling your loved one's depression can be life-crushing. To get an understanding of what happened in the past can turn good memories into sad ones.
The author had many thoughtful observations and questionings throughout the book, part from his own experiences, part from autism community. Let me list a few:
1. Does today's education system focus too much on paper-based course work instead of hands-on practices such as car mechanics, and is this the reason (partially at least) autistic children today having a harder time in school?
2. If you "cure" autism children of a young age, do you rid of their creativity too?
3. The emotional sensitivity and the people-reading instincts brought directly by TMS treatment faded after a period of time, but the author felt lasting changes. Is it because the "use or lose it" principle and the author tried hard to use it?
4. Why older adults (such as the author) get better outcome from TMS than younger ones (such as Nick)? Is it because older people have experienced more of the downside of being autistic therefore more motivated?
Nick is a very interesting case, a teen who almost recovered from his autism after several TMS treatment yet reverted back to his old ways. Worst (from his parents' point of view) of all, Nick refused to try any further treatment. Was he not able to or not wanting to? The author seemed to think that Nick wanted to his old way--dealing with emotions of his and people around him was overwhelming, therefore he was not motivated to achieve any long lasting changes.