Overview

What is autism: a lifelong disability or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is both of these things and more-and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years. Going back to the earliest days of autism research and chronicling the brave and lonely journey of autistic people and their families through the decades, Silberman provides long-sought solutions to the autism puzzle, while mapping out a path for our society toward a more humane world in which people with learning differences and those who love them have access to the resources they need to live happier, healthier, more secure, and more meaningful lives. Along the way, he reveals the untold story of Hans Asperger, the father of Asperger's syndrome, whose little professors were targeted by the darkest social-engineering experiment in human history; exposes the covert campaign by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner to suppress knowledge of the autism spectrum for fifty years; and casts light on the growing movement of neurodiversity activists seeking respect, support, technological innovation, accommodations in the workplace and in education, and the right to self-determination for those with cognitive differences.

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9781504615884

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Reviews

A well-researched, readable report on the treatment of autism that explores its history and proposes significant changes for its future. -- Kirkus Reviews Journalist Silberman devotes this thick, linear tome to the stunning evolution of the autism diagnosis from one that's explicitly negative to something more ambiguous and even positive...The main point-that autism may persist because it can come with adaptive qualities-is well taken. -- Publishers Weekly NeuroTribes is beautifully told, humanizing, important. It has earned its enthusiastic foreword from Oliver Sacks; it has found its place on the shelf next to Far From the Tree, Andrew Solomon's landmark appreciation of neurological differences. At its heart is a plea for the world to make accommodations for those with autism, not the other way around, and for researchers and the public alike to focus on getting them the services they need. They are, to use Temple Grandin's words, 'different, not less.' Better yet, indispensable: inseparably tied to innovation, showing us there are other ways to think and work and live. -- New York Times Book Review This gripping and heroic tale is a brilliant addition to the history of autism. -- Uta Frith, emeritus professor of cognitive development at University College London NeuroTribes is a sweeping and penetrating history, presented with a rare sympathy and sensitivity. It is fascinating reading; it will change how you think of autism, and it belongs, alongside the works of Temple Grandin and Clara Claiborne Park, on the bookshelf of anyone interested in autism and the workings of the human brain. -- Oliver Sacks, neurologist and bestselling author A comprehensive history of the science and culture surrounding autism studies...an essential resource. -- Nature The monks who inscribed beautiful manuscripts during the Middle Ages, Cavendish an eighteenth century scientist who explained electricity, and many of the geeks in Silicon Valley are all on the autism spectrum. Silberman reviews the history of autism treatments from horrible blaming of parents to the modern positive neurodiversity movement. Essential reading for anyone interested in psychology. -- Temple Grandin, New York Times bestselling author

Author Information

Steve Silberman has covered science and cultural affairs for Wired and other national magazines for more than twenty years. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Time, Nature, and Salon. He lives in San Francisco. Oliver Sacks (1933-2015) was the author of more than a dozen books, including The Mind's Eye, Musicophilia, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Awakenings, which inspired both the Oscar-nominated film and a play by Harold Pinter. The New York Times has referred to him as the poet laureate of medicine, and he was a frequent contributor to the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. He lived in New York City, where he was professor of neurology at the NYU School of Medicine for many years. William Hughes is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. A professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, he received his doctorate in American politics from the University of California at Davis. He has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

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