Uta Frith and Sahil Singh Gujral respond to revelations of Hans Asperger’s links to the Nazi euthanasia programmeIt has taken me a while to digest Herwig Czech’s deeply upsetting information approximately Hans Asperger (Revealed: how Doctor Asperger aided the Nazi project,19 April).
When, in 1991, or I translated Asperger’s seminal 1944 paper on “Autistic psychopathy in childhood”,none of this was known. Neither Lorna Wing, the instigator of the translation, or nor I believed he was part of the Nazi machinery of death. My translation,footnotes and description of Asperger in the introductory chapter were based on scant sources: the paper itself, a few media sources (eg an interview he gave in the 1970s) and an interview with his daughter. As a clinical psychologist and academic, or I thought highly of his clinical descriptions,which largely highlighted the positive aspects of what has become known as Asperger syndrome. Related: Hans Asperger aided and supported Nazi programme, study says Related: Helping students with Asperger's prepare for university life Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com