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charliclement_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Appreciated a resource that goes into these topics in depth, but didn’t really like the way autism was positioned overall and think there was less discussion of Asperger’s itself/himself than I expected.
chrobin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Lots of good information and context that I had not previously understood. At times it got very repetitive, and could have been much shorter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, War, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Physical abuse, Genocide, Torture, Sexism, Self harm, Racial slurs, and Murder
carlyg123's review against another edition
5.0
Formed part of my research, and proved a harrowing read.
alexisrt's review against another edition
5.0
This was a very interesting look at not just Hans Asperger, but autism, eugenics, and Nazi science.
In the 1920s, Vienna pioneered an interventionist approach to child development. Eugenics was in vogue, but didn't mean only the negatives we associate it with today--rather, it was a two pronged approach, with active medical, social work, and education departments designed to improve the lives of children and families. One element of this approach was the Curative Education Department where Hans Asperger came to work. Autism had already begun to become recognized at the clinic.
Under the Third Reich, however, this took a darker turn. As Asperger, already a committed Catholic and conservative, took over the department, the two prongs became a selection process for children. Were they "educable"? Could they be saved and turned into a useful part of the Volk? Or were they unfit? Despite his later protestations, Asperger became a part of that selection process--sending children to Spiegelgrund, home of the Nazi child euthanasia program.
This is both a disturbing history of Nazi child euthanasia and an insight into how Asperger's diagnosis was developed. While he highlighted the successes of some of the children, in an effort to present them as worthy of salvation, he increasingly stereotyped the behaviors of the children. He only recognized autistic behavior in boys (a prejudice that continues today). And he defined it as "autistic psychopathy"--with connotations in German similar to those in English.
Despite his later protests, and some distancing away from his earlier statements, Sheffer shows that Asperger's work cannot be completely separated from its context of Nazi psychiatry.
In the 1920s, Vienna pioneered an interventionist approach to child development. Eugenics was in vogue, but didn't mean only the negatives we associate it with today--rather, it was a two pronged approach, with active medical, social work, and education departments designed to improve the lives of children and families. One element of this approach was the Curative Education Department where Hans Asperger came to work. Autism had already begun to become recognized at the clinic.
Under the Third Reich, however, this took a darker turn. As Asperger, already a committed Catholic and conservative, took over the department, the two prongs became a selection process for children. Were they "educable"? Could they be saved and turned into a useful part of the Volk? Or were they unfit? Despite his later protestations, Asperger became a part of that selection process--sending children to Spiegelgrund, home of the Nazi child euthanasia program.
This is both a disturbing history of Nazi child euthanasia and an insight into how Asperger's diagnosis was developed. While he highlighted the successes of some of the children, in an effort to present them as worthy of salvation, he increasingly stereotyped the behaviors of the children. He only recognized autistic behavior in boys (a prejudice that continues today). And he defined it as "autistic psychopathy"--with connotations in German similar to those in English.
Despite his later protests, and some distancing away from his earlier statements, Sheffer shows that Asperger's work cannot be completely separated from its context of Nazi psychiatry.
sarahlopod's review against another edition
A little more dry and dense than I was expecting. I wish it had been an easier read, because it contains a lot of important information!
lottie1803's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
as an autistic with underlying special interests in nazi germany, this was essential reading for me. modern society has forgotten the nazi connections to autism. in many ways, society still demoralises autistic people and would prefer us to abide by neurotypical ways of being. labels are labels, but they also provide validation and community to a group who continues to be excluded from mainstream life. this is an area of history that has truly been forgotten, and shedded did a fantastic job bringing it back to life. it’s hard to think if i were born in the same circumstances id end up like the girls in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, War, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Colonisation, Genocide, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Violence