Reviews with content warning for Ableism - NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman

34 reviews

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.

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missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition

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5.0

A comprehensive history of autism as a diagnosis, condition and community. A must read for any parent/guardian, educator, caretaker or loved one of an autistic person. A great read for autistic people also; I learned a lot about myself and my disability from reading this book even when I already knew a lot. This book educates about the history of autism while staying consistently respectful and aware of autistic people’s humanity. I now understand why so many call this book “the autism bible.”

☀️16/20

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wy_woman's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.5

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amberfrost's review against another edition

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This book continues to use harmful and outdated terms and ideas around autism.

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henrytinker's review against another edition

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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.

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