Steve Silberman’s
[amazon_image id=”1760113638″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ][amazon_image id=”1760293288″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently[/amazon_image]
I was frustrated to learn on page 375 that, throughout the disputes and discoveries in the US I’d been reading about so far, British researchers and doctors were “light years ahead of their American peers in their understanding of autism”; this is a highly US-centric book. British readers might also be surprised that Simon Baron-Cohen gets just two passing mentions. I’m certainly no expert but think he’s quite well known on this side of the Atlantic. The despicable Andrew Wakefield does get appropriately – ie. highly critically – described. My other frustration was that – given my lack of knowledge of the subject – there wasn’t more of a summary of the state of play at the end of the book. It’s clear enough that there is no ‘epidemic’, but rather a better understanding of the character of autism and much more diagnosis; and that the explanations are to be sought in genetics, not environmental factors. Still, I’d have liked a bit more.
Of course, wanting more of a 520 page book is a good sign. Interesting, compelling and important.