Ron Peters's Reviews > Look Me in the Eye

This quick read tells the interesting and informative life story of a man who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome only when he was well into his adult years. He is intelligent but couldn’t function in school, often got into trouble, got terrible grades, and dropped out early. Both as a child and as a young adult he had major problems forming and maintaining friendships and serious relationships. But he found he had an amazing natural ability to design acoustic circuits; he could imagine sounds and ‘see’ circuits that would make those sounds. This landed him jobs with major rock bands in his late teens and early adult years. But that lifestyle proved too stressful and he wanted to settle down, so he tried his hand at more mainstream jobs, e.g., as an electrical engineer with a toy company. He did well in these jobs and earned good salaries until he was promoted to management positions, then he failed because he could not work well with others. Eventually, he started a repair and rebuild business for high-end European cars, and he now has a successful 12-employee business and is actively involved in his local community. His social skills have improved over the years. He now has a son and is married for the second time. Although Robinson has had an exceedingly difficult life, the book manages to be riotously funny in spots.