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Reviews tagging 'Child death'
NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman
9 reviews
dwarrowdams's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
An amazing read that gave a clear overview of the history of autism and looked towards the future. Incredibly well-researched and important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Child death
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Antisemitism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, and Transphobia
ren_the_hobbit's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
2.75
Honestly disappointed. For a book that promised both the history and future of neurodiversity, very little of the book was about the future. Only the last chapter which was one of the shortest. In addition, it mentions a few times that people of color, lower socioeconomic status and women are under-diagnosed and under represented but didn’t go into detail why or attempt to find their stories. Finally, it talks about how autism in the future will be lead by autistic people, but barely mentions their points of views or stories. The part about WWII and it’s affects on the spread of ideas were interesting. But then it went on and on naming every white autistic or possibly autistic man in the 1900s who invented something.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Ableism
Moderate: War and Mental illness
henrytinker's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
2.0
Overly long, factually incorrect, and not written by an autistic person.
This book is predominantly a collection of biographical information about specific psychologists who contributed to the development of Autism as a diagnosis. It isn't very well written in my opinion, because the style is rather dry and without a clear narrative through line. It is also unclear why so much of it is devoted to certain people and topics adjacent to autism (e.g. speculating about famous historical men who could have been autistic, PKU, Ham Radio). Although there are some interesting parts, it could have done with rigorous editing. At best I would describe it as 'uneven'.
As an autistic person who is somewhat familiar with the history of the diagnosis already, it is worth pointing out that a lot of the information about Hans Asperger, whom Silberman seems determined to redeem, is incorrect. This book was published in 2015, and in 2018 new evidence came to light of Hans Asperger's collusion with Dr. Jekelius and other Nazis. Asperger is directly responsible for the deaths of numerous children, and as such those sections in the book were incredibly uncomfortable and frustrating to read.
There really isn't much that humanises autistic people in this book, with the exception of the last chapter. There are lots of detailed descriptions of children suffering and being tortured, and a lot of focus placed on the narratives of the parents of autistic children. There is also very little mention of Autism Speaks and the harm that they have done and continue to do, which is an interesting omission for a book that seems so determined to present itself as thoroughly researched. I definitely expected better from this book, given all of the glowing reviews.
Please read books by people who are actually autistic! e.g. Unmasking Autism by Dr. Devon Price, Authoring Autism by Melanie Yergeau, The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin, A Mismatch of Salience by Dr Damien E M Milton, Neuroqueer Heresies by Dr. Nick Walker.
This book is predominantly a collection of biographical information about specific psychologists who contributed to the development of Autism as a diagnosis. It isn't very well written in my opinion, because the style is rather dry and without a clear narrative through line. It is also unclear why so much of it is devoted to certain people and topics adjacent to autism (e.g. speculating about famous historical men who could have been autistic, PKU, Ham Radio). Although there are some interesting parts, it could have done with rigorous editing. At best I would describe it as 'uneven'.
As an autistic person who is somewhat familiar with the history of the diagnosis already, it is worth pointing out that a lot of the information about Hans Asperger, whom Silberman seems determined to redeem, is incorrect. This book was published in 2015, and in 2018 new evidence came to light of Hans Asperger's collusion with Dr. Jekelius and other Nazis. Asperger is directly responsible for the deaths of numerous children, and as such those sections in the book were incredibly uncomfortable and frustrating to read.
There really isn't much that humanises autistic people in this book, with the exception of the last chapter. There are lots of detailed descriptions of children suffering and being tortured, and a lot of focus placed on the narratives of the parents of autistic children. There is also very little mention of Autism Speaks and the harm that they have done and continue to do, which is an interesting omission for a book that seems so determined to present itself as thoroughly researched. I definitely expected better from this book, given all of the glowing reviews.
Please read books by people who are actually autistic! e.g. Unmasking Autism by Dr. Devon Price, Authoring Autism by Melanie Yergeau, The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin, A Mismatch of Salience by Dr Damien E M Milton, Neuroqueer Heresies by Dr. Nick Walker.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Self harm, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, and Medical content
lanid's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Child death, Child abuse, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Bullying
cassie7e's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Child abuse, and Ableism
Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Physical abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Suicide
annapox's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Child death, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Classism, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Racism, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Animal death, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Islamophobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury
kpletscher's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Ableism and Child death
Minor: Antisemitism
notnicolebrewer's review against another edition
emotional
informative
fast-paced
5.0
I read this book as part of a deep dive into my own personal autism research as I pursued my diagnosis. In the time between realizing I was likely autistic and actually being diagnosed with autism, I wanted to learn everything I could about how autism actually manifests. TikTok was a great starting point for this, with stories from people living with autism, but obviously TikTok is not a *source* - I was glad to find this book, and I'm happy to have it now to recommend to my family.
Neurotribes is a carefully researched book that spans over a century to look closely at how autism came to be represented in medicine and society. It's largely horrific: until nearly the 2000s, an autism diagnosis would almost always resulted in either forced institutionalization, or "treatment" that closely resembled torture, all in an effort to "overcome" it. It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear about how children are studied, experimented on, tortured, and abandoned to institutions, and there are long sections of the book that detail arguments of the time for eugenics as they are relevant to autism research and history. Still, throughout the book, it is clear the author writes with a profound compassion and empathy for people and families managing autism now: the hideous and violent history of the condition and diagnosis are condemnable, and are condemned.
The bulk of this book examines this difficult history, but it is sandwiched on either end by some speculation and observations around autism in the 21st century - it considers the "autism epidemic," a phenomenon not caused by an actual uptick in autism, but in a growth of diagnoses, as both the diagnostic criteria are expanded and better understood, and the diagnosis itself is not a sentence to a stilted life. The autism "epidemic" is simply the beautiful result of autistic individuals being allowed to exist in the whole, complex, and individual lives they have always had the capacity of enjoying - it is the beginning of an end of stigma, perhaps.
I highly recommend this book as a learning tool, for its breadth and scope, with the warning that within that scope is a long and horrible history of ableism.
Neurotribes is a carefully researched book that spans over a century to look closely at how autism came to be represented in medicine and society. It's largely horrific: until nearly the 2000s, an autism diagnosis would almost always resulted in either forced institutionalization, or "treatment" that closely resembled torture, all in an effort to "overcome" it. It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear about how children are studied, experimented on, tortured, and abandoned to institutions, and there are long sections of the book that detail arguments of the time for eugenics as they are relevant to autism research and history. Still, throughout the book, it is clear the author writes with a profound compassion and empathy for people and families managing autism now: the hideous and violent history of the condition and diagnosis are condemnable, and are condemned.
The bulk of this book examines this difficult history, but it is sandwiched on either end by some speculation and observations around autism in the 21st century - it considers the "autism epidemic," a phenomenon not caused by an actual uptick in autism, but in a growth of diagnoses, as both the diagnostic criteria are expanded and better understood, and the diagnosis itself is not a sentence to a stilted life. The autism "epidemic" is simply the beautiful result of autistic individuals being allowed to exist in the whole, complex, and individual lives they have always had the capacity of enjoying - it is the beginning of an end of stigma, perhaps.
I highly recommend this book as a learning tool, for its breadth and scope, with the warning that within that scope is a long and horrible history of ableism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, and Medical trauma
lizshayne's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
So, fun fact, I used to think I was not the kind of person who was triggered by the content of books. Apparently I just hadn't read anything viscerally upsetting enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Which is not a dig at this book, the history of autism and the treatment of children diagnosed with whatever name it was going by that decade is viscerally upsetting. It's a book filled with stories of well-meaning people torturing children and it sometimes feels like that fact is not given the space it needs to breathe.
Silberman's history is precisely that; although the future is about 30 pages at the end and the vast majority of the book is taken up with deeply nuanced and overall sympathetic portraits of the people who shaped 20th century autism research without either justifying or supporting so many of their factually incorrect and morally reprehensible conclusions. He's more interested in tracing the evolution of autism in scientific and cultural consciousness while mapping out attitudes towards it. It's only towards the end that autistic people come to the center of the conversation and get a chance to speak up. Which is also reflective of the history so that's not a surprise.
There's a usefulness to the book in understanding where we have come from and where we are going (and why we're so eager to get away from it). I wanted, I'll admit, more of a polemic about the need for support and services rather than curemongering. And yet that wasn't what Silberman set out to do. His goal was to tell the story. "Look at where we are. Look at where we started. The fact that we're alive is a miracle." Indeed.
Anyway, highly recommended for people trying to understand the history of autism as a diagnosis and the shift towards actually autistic people advocating for themselves and demanding a better world for all neurotypes.
(There's a persistent tendency to believe that the autistic people doing this advocacy work aren't "as" autistic or that "low-functioning" (a term the autistic community intensely dislikes because it often just means "needs alternative forms of communication" or "requires more care" as if needing more is somehow a bad thing) autistic people are not part of this new movement when it's clear that the broad slate of demands—access to communication devices, attention to the causes of sensory overload, and people willing to fight for their services—leads to better outcomes for autistics across the entire spectrum. To which I can only say - listen to non-speaking autistic voices and the short film <a href="https://youtu.be/H7dca7U7GI8">Listen</a> is a great place to start.)
Which is not a dig at this book, the history of autism and the treatment of children diagnosed with whatever name it was going by that decade is viscerally upsetting. It's a book filled with stories of well-meaning people torturing children and it sometimes feels like that fact is not given the space it needs to breathe.
Silberman's history is precisely that; although the future is about 30 pages at the end and the vast majority of the book is taken up with deeply nuanced and overall sympathetic portraits of the people who shaped 20th century autism research without either justifying or supporting so many of their factually incorrect and morally reprehensible conclusions. He's more interested in tracing the evolution of autism in scientific and cultural consciousness while mapping out attitudes towards it. It's only towards the end that autistic people come to the center of the conversation and get a chance to speak up. Which is also reflective of the history so that's not a surprise.
There's a usefulness to the book in understanding where we have come from and where we are going (and why we're so eager to get away from it). I wanted, I'll admit, more of a polemic about the need for support and services rather than curemongering. And yet that wasn't what Silberman set out to do. His goal was to tell the story. "Look at where we are. Look at where we started. The fact that we're alive is a miracle." Indeed.
Anyway, highly recommended for people trying to understand the history of autism as a diagnosis and the shift towards actually autistic people advocating for themselves and demanding a better world for all neurotypes.
(There's a persistent tendency to believe that the autistic people doing this advocacy work aren't "as" autistic or that "low-functioning" (a term the autistic community intensely dislikes because it often just means "needs alternative forms of communication" or "requires more care" as if needing more is somehow a bad thing) autistic people are not part of this new movement when it's clear that the broad slate of demands—access to communication devices, attention to the causes of sensory overload, and people willing to fight for their services—leads to better outcomes for autistics across the entire spectrum. To which I can only say - listen to non-speaking autistic voices and the short film <a href="https://youtu.be/H7dca7U7GI8">Listen</a> is a great place to start.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Child death
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