In his new book, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
, science writer Steve Silberman delves into the forgotten history of autism, and documents how politics and self-promoting scientists have altered our understanding of the condition over the years. (Read an excerpt from the book here
One of the most remarkable figures in the book is Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger, whose pioneering ideas about autism were long neglected. Asperger thought of autism as a widespread condition, diverse in its manifestation, and mostly hereditary. Yet for years, Silberman writes, those concepts were buried by scientists like Leo Kanner, who favored a more narrow definition of autism, and others who wished to institutionalize or "cure" autistic children, with sometimes brutal tactics such as shocks from a cattle prod.
Silberman closes the book by arguing that more attention and money should be directed toward building a more comfortable world for people on the autistic spectrum, rather than focusing solely on an elusive cure.
Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Senior Producer