Continuing Education for Psychologists

NEUROTRIBES
The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

A New York Times bestseller

Winner of the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction

A groundbreaking book that upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently.

What is autism? A lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more--and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. WIRED reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years.

Going back to the earliest days of autism research and chronicling the brave and lonely journey of autistic people and their families through the decades, Silberman provides long-sought solutions to the autism puzzle, while mapping out a path for our society toward a more humane world in which people with learning differences and those who love them have access to the resources they need to live happier, healthier, more secure, and more meaningful lives.

Along the way, he reveals the untold story of Hans Asperger, the father of Asperger's syndrome, whose "little professors" were targeted by the darkest social-engineering experiment in human history; exposes the covert campaign by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner to suppress knowledge of the autism spectrum for fifty years; and casts light on the growing movement of "neurodiversity" activists seeking respect, support, technological innovation, accommodations in the workplace and in education, and the right to self-determination for those with cognitive differences.

Steve Silberman has covered science and cultural affiars for Wired and other national magazines for more than twenty years. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Time, Nature, and Salon.

"Should be required reading for all who work with autism and with other developmental disabilities that produce non-typical mind."
 -Richard E. Getty, Ph.D.

"Ambitious, meticulous and largehearted history...NeuroTribes is beautifully told, humanizing, important."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Mr. Silberman has surely written the definitive book about [autism's] past."
--The Economist

"A comprehensive history of the science and culture surrounding autism studies...an essential resource."
--Nature magazine

"NeuroTribes is a sweeping and penetrating history, presented with a rare sympathy and sensitivity. It is fascinating reading; it will change how you think of autism, and it belongs, alongside the works of Temple Grandin and Clara Claiborne Park, on the bookshelf of anyone interested in autism and the workings of the human brain."
--From the foreword by Oliver Sacks, author of An Anthropologist On Mars and Awakenings

"Breathtaking... as emotionally resonant as any [book] this year."
--The Boston Globe

"A lively, readable book... To read NeuroTribes is to realize how much autistic people have enriched the scope of human knowledge and diversity, and how impoverished the world would be without them."
--The San Francisco Chronicle

"It is a beautifully written and thoughtfully crafted book, a historical tour of autism, richly populated with fascinating and engaging characters, and a rallying call to respect difference."
--Science

"Epic and often shocking...Everyone with an interest in the history of science and medicine -- how it has failed us, surprised us and benefited us -- should read this book."
--Chicago Tribune

"The monks who inscribed beautiful manuscripts during the Middle Ages, Cavendish an 18th century scientist who explained electricity, and many of the geeks in Silicon Valley are all on the autism spectrum. Silberman reviews the history of autism treatments from horrible blaming of parents to the modern positive neurodiversity movement. Essential reading for anyone interested in psychology."
--Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures and The Autistic Brain

"NeuroTribes is remarkable. Silberman has done something unique: he's taken the dense and detailed history of autism and turned the story into a genuine page-turner. The book is sure to stir considerable discussion."
--John Elder Robison, Neurodiversity Scholar in Residence at The College of William & Mary and author of Look Me in the Eye