The late neurologist, Oliver Sacks, called Neurotribes a “sweeping and penetrating history” of autism, presented with a “rare sympathy and sensitivity”. Describing the author, Steve Silberman, Sacks noted that he knew of “no one else who had spent so much time simply listening”.
The strategy worked. The result is the book that families affected by autism have long deserved. And it happens to be beautifully written.
Before 2000, when Silberman embarked on the fateful cruise in Alaska that provided the springboard for his Wired article on autism among Silicon Valley children, most of what he knew about the condition came from the 1988 film, Rain Man.
That changed when wave after wave of emails and letters arrived after the piece appeared. Silberman was intrigued and set out to tell the rich and often disturbing story of the disorder. He met with researchers, doctors, therapists, families, and most importantly, those with autism themselves.
The modern history of autism is overshadowed by its grim and false connection with the MMR vaccine. The impacts of that scare story, promulgated by the press, are still playing out. Before that were the appalling accusations that autistic children were the product of cold parenting.
But there are other important lessons from the history Silberman tells. Hans Asperger’s original description of children in his care in the 1940s was broad. Had it been adopted more widely, Silberman suggests, there might not be anything like the upward trend in diagnoses today. Ultimately, the book is optimistic, about how the world can become a better place for autism, and how those affected found their tribes.