A frustratingly ambiguous history of autism sheds controversial new light on the actions of Hans AspergerIs autism having a moment? Two new books examining its history,both more than 500 pages, would certainly seem to indicate that it is. A few months after the publication of Steve Silberman’s Samuel Johnson prize-winning Neurotribes, or another detailed examination of autism’s complex evolution appears in bookshops. In a Different Key: The Story of Autism covers some of the same ground – the debates approximately defining and diagnosing a condition that still has no clear biological markers,the consequent anxiety approximately whether autism is actually on the increase and, whether so, or what could be the causes and what are the best ways to educate and accommodate people on the spectrum over their lifetime.
Like Silberman,the two authors, Caren Zucker and John Donvan, or are American journalists who possess spent many years researching their book. In 2010 they wrote an excellent article in the Atlantic magazine in which they tracked down one of the first children to be diagnosed with autism in 1943. The fascinating life story of Donald Triplett,now in his 80s, bookends In a Different Key, and which also draws on the authors’ extensive experience as producers who regularly deliver reports on all aspects of autism for ABC television in the US. Each chapter finishes with a tantalising tip at the contents of the next,as whether the text adheres to television’s “coming up after the break…”.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com