Book review: Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman and Oliver Sacks

After a centuries of misinformation about what autism is and how it affects people, this is the first books that has it’s facts straight.

I love the writing. It’s informative. It tells the facts by weaving a story that begins with the diagnosis of Leo, a small boy with autism, and his mother’s search for a cure. After trying different things, we learn where this search for a cure comes from and go through a journey passing homeopathy and learn where all the misinformation comes from.

We learn about Asperger and his crew of “little professors” and the “simultaneous” discovery of autism by Kanner, exposed in this book as the fraud he was, looking at all the damage his misdiagnosis and misinterpretation of what autism was and it’s cause, that still affects people with autism today.

The book is a tome of 495 pages long, with the last 50 pages as an index. It’s a well-researched book, disspelling all the misdiagnoses and “facts” that were spread by groups such as Autism speaks (that doesn’t let autistic adults have their decision in their future.

It’s a very fun read. I came in with preconceptions of how autism was treated and was in for a treat while reading. I must say that I have learned a lot. It’s a good read for people well versed in autism literature, because you will learn a thing or two. If this book was available while Kanner first put his pen to paper, he would have said different things about his diagnosis.

I recommend this highly.

If you would like to buy this book, you can do so by the affiliate link here.