This is a very humane book and should hopefully open up the minds of many to be more empathetic to the plight of those experiencing autism & of diffierent species.

Dawn always knew that she was different, unfortunately for her she never knew why she was different. She reveals her path to self-discovery.

Dawn gives the impression that what are normally instinctive social norms, such as smiling at appropriate times, or knowing when to disagree or agree, are entirely learned behaviors on her behalf. What is obvious for the normal person, she has to intellectually grasp, and learn to correctly apply that knowledge. This fortunately offers her a unique way of looking at the world.

Unlike others when she spends time and studies gorillas, Dawn sees not only the basics such as a silverback and a playful child, she can sense the individualities of each gorilla. She understands why a gorilla behaves a certain manner. She knows if the individual gorilla is being silly, threatening or displaying grief at the sickness of a family member.

With this understanding of Gorillas, Dawn is then capable of applying that knowledge to human behavior, and her own behavior in general. With this application she learns to better handle herself in public and to expand her understanding of the human condition.

Some of the other unique characteristics of this book involve how she views the world. One of the better explanations is that autism provides an overload of the senses. Most people have filters that block out unnecessary information. Our senses are better capable of focusing or disregarding some irrelevant sense, touch, sight, or smell. With autism we get the impression that Dawn cannot prevent all these senses from overloading her brain. Since we dont actively think about all of the filters that we do have it's difficult for most people to understand how she feels.

This book should be mandatory reading for psychologists or anyone teaching. A lot of the problems Dawn encountered as a child could have been avoided if only some simple humanity and understanding had been applied. This is especially true when we read about how one of her teachers treated her.

Hopefully this book will enlighten people on what autism is, and about the fact that apes and animals in general each have their own unique personalities.


Songs of the Gorilla Nation   April 26, 2004
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

This deep thinking book is about a woman who has a form of autism, Asperger's Syndrome. The author combines anthropology, autism and study of gorillas into a finely tuned view of how an autistic person deals with their unique individuality. An excellent nonfiction book for anyone interested in autism.