NeuroTribes

NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity Hardcover – August 25, 2015
Author: Visit ‘s Steve Silberman Page ID: 158333467X

Review

“Ambitious, meticulous and largehearted history…NeuroTribes is beautifully told, humanizing, important.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Mr. Silberman has surely written the definitive book about [autism’s] past.”
–The Economist 

“A comprehensive history of the science and culture surrounding autism studies…an essential resource.” –Nature magazine

“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.”
–From the foreword by Oliver Sacks, author of An Anthropologist On Mars and Awakenings

“Breathtaking… as emotionally resonant as any [book] this year.” –The Boston Globe

“A lively, readable book… To read NeuroTribes is to realize how much autistic people have enriched the scope of human knowledge and diversity, and how impoverished the world would be without them.” –The San Francisco Chronicle

“It is a beautifully written and thoughtfully crafted book, a historical tour of autism, richly populated with fascinating and engaging characters, and a rallying call to respect difference.” – Science magazine
 
“Epic and often shocking…Everyone with an interest in the history of science and medicine — how it has failed us, surprised us and benefited us — should read this book.” –Chicago Tribune

“The best book you can read to understand autism” –Gizmodo

“Required reading for every parent, teacher, therapist, and person who wants to know more about autism” –Parents.com

“This is perhaps the most significant history of the discovery, changing conception and public reaction to autism we will see in a generation.” –TASH.org

“A well-researched, readable report on the treatment of autism that explores its history and proposes significant changes for its future…In the foreword, Oliver Sacks writes that this ‘sweeping and penetrating history…is fascinating reading’ that ‘will change how you think of autism.’ No argument with that assessment.” –Kirkus Reviews
 
“The monks who inscribed beautiful manuscripts during the Middle Ages, Cavendish an 18th 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, author of Thinking in Pictures and The Autistic Brain
 
“NeuroTribes is remarkable. Silberman has done something unique: he’s taken the dense and detailed history of autism and turned the story into a genuine page-turner. The book is sure to stir considerable discussion.”
—John Elder Robison, Neurodiversity Scholar in Residence at The College of William & Mary and author of Look Me in the Eye
 
“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
 
“In this genuine page-turner, Steve Silberman reveals the untold history of autism: from persecution to parent-blaming, from Rain Man to vaccines, of doctors for whom professional ego trumped compassion, to forgotten heroes like Hans Asperger, unfairly tainted by Nazi links.  It ends on an optimistic note, with ‘autistics’ reclaiming the narrative and defining autism in their terms — more difference than disability and an essential part of the human condition. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in autism or Asperger’s, or simply a fascination with what makes us tick.”
—Benison O’Reilly, co-author of The Australian Autism Handbook

About the Author

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.

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Hardcover: 544 pagesPublisher: Avery; 1 edition (August 25, 2015)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 158333467XISBN-13: 978-1583334676 Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.7 x 9.3 inches Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #1,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > History #1 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > History #1 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Children’s Health > Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome
Steve Silberman is a journalist and writer for WIRED magazine who has written many readable stories on medicine and human health. In this book he brings many years of reporting and training to delve upon one of the most prominent health issues of our time – autism.

Silberman’s book is rich in both human and scientific detail and shines in three aspects. Firstly, he meticulously traces the history of autism and the lives of the neurologists, psychologists and doctors who chased its elusive identity. He focuses especially on two psychologists, Leo Kanner in the United States and Hans Asperger in Nazi-controlled Vienna who identified the syndrome and pioneered its study through observations on hundreds of cases. Asperger was the first one to identify a variety of signs and symptoms that contribute to what we now call autism spectrum disorder, and his studies were expansive and nuanced. Silberman’s account of both the foibles and the triumphs of these two individuals is fascinating: while Kanner’s fault was in assigning the blame for autism to parents (he coined the phrase "refrigerator mother") and focusing on children, Asperger identified mostly high-functioning autistic savants in his publications for a chilling reason – so that the lower functioning cases could avoid the ghastly fate met by victims of the Nazis’ euthanasia program which aimed at eliminating “mentally feeble” individuals. Both Kenner and Asperger meant well, and in Asperger’s case his withholding of the identities of autistic people literally meant the difference between life and death.

And yet as Silberman so adeptly demonstrates, this was one of those cases where the intentions of humane and well-meaning researchers actually caused harm to public perceptions of the syndrome.
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