In this short book R.V. opens our eyes and enriches us. He gives us insight and understanding into how people with autism and schizophrenia experience the world. He tells us how he has learned to control unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and offers suggestions for anyone wishing to do the same. He brings the suggestions together beautifully in the section, “Visualization: swim through the undertow.”

Each section begins with a quotation. One is about penguins and says they are not less because they can’t fly, they’re simply different. R.V. points out that having hallucinations doesn’t mean the person is less, it simply means their mind works in a very different way. To take this comparison further, understanding a penguin’s abilities requires seeing them underwater. They are graceful rockets. And to understand what someone with autism or schizophrenia (or both) can do we have to be willing to look beneath the surface. As R.V. tells us, all of our most admirable human qualities are there.