Many parents likely fear the word “autism” but journalist Steven Silberman advocates a completely different approach in his sweeping book, "Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity."
Silberman dove into autism in 2001 when his article "The Geek Syndrome" appeared in Wired. Back then, he was focused on autism's cause.
The popularity of that article introduced him to many parents of autistic children. But as Silberman began to spend more time alongside those on the autistic spectrum, he realized that much of the national conversation about autism (and Silberman argues, the resources available to help people live their lives) is focused on the wrong thing.
"Years passed," he writes in his book, "and I still got email about 'The Geek Syndrome' nearly every week."
He began to worry that he'd missed "a larger and more important story." He continues in the book:
"A seemingly simple question began to formulate in my mind: After seventy years of research on autism, why do we still seem to know so little about it?
"To find the answer to that question for this book, I decided to start my reporting at the very beginning, even before Kanner's and Asperger's allegedly independent discoveries of autism in the 1940s. By taking nothing for granted, I learned that the standard time line of autism history -- its creation myth so to speak -- is fundamentally flawed in ways that render autistic people in previous generations harder to see. Until these inaccuracies in the time line are corrected, they will continue to hamper our ability to make wise choices about the kinds of research and societal accommodations that would be most beneficial to autistic people and their families."
In a wide-ranging conversation recently on KQED's Forum, Silberman addressed questions about the history of autism and Asperger's, misperceptions about the disorders, how different genders are affected by autism and the need for more services and resources for adults and families coping with autism.