The medical approach has led to the fact that autism was considered a disease, and all types of therapy were aimed at «cure» it. Now several new books have been published that reflect changes in the perception of autism.
At the same time, the voices of educated and, even if non-verbal, but rather eloquent people with autism were heard louder and louder, demanding recognition of their right to be themselves. At the same time, of course, they want to get closer to the rest of society and find a common language with it.
- How close are you to autism?
Neurotribes, a book by Steve Silberman (Avery 2015), examines the historical processes that shaped the division into low-functioning and high-functioning autism, as well as the expansion of the diagnostic category that occurred in 1987. His position is to stop looking for reasons and concentrate on adaptation issues.
Like Silberman’s book, Donvan and Zucker’s In Another Key (Crown Publishers, 2016) focuses on the historical aspects of autism. If you have a good understanding of the history and politics of the formulation of the diagnosis, it will be easier to understand the modern criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Donovan and Zucker were able to interview the first person diagnosed with autism, Donald Triplett. Triplett, born in 1933, whose case was described in an article by Leo Kanner under the pseudonym «Case 1, Donald T», lived a long, fairly prosperous life and was accepted by the inhabitants of his town. He studied, worked, traveled. The key to success is acceptance by others.
- Stephen Edelson: «Realize, autism is treatable!»
Karen Zucker, who has a 21-year-old son with autism, believes parental support is the key to success. Critics of the book say that such fervent sympathy for parents («the unsung heroes of autism») again turns autism into a «problem» or «disease», and in general «autism happens to autistic people, not to their parents,» as Ari Neeman noted. , an autistic, passionate and vocal advocate for neurodiversity. But the most important thing in the book is another attempt to debunk the old psychoanalytic approach to parents as almost the cause of autism.
It seems to me that critics of the book underestimate the fact that it is neurotypical parents who have to go most of the way to meet their neurodiverse children — to teach, develop, interact more than with their neurotypical peers. In general, the term “neurotypical” itself only says that there are much more people with similar neurowiring on earth. But still, according to the statistics of the last year, one in 68 children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and it becomes more and more important to reckon with such a large percentage of the population.
- “People with autism have their own strengths”
How did people with autism perceive the two books? Judging by Ari Neeman’s reaction, Silberman’s book denounces the mistakes of the last fifty years, while Donovan and Zucker’s book celebrates the good fortune in the adoption process, as well as helping people with autism and their families. The other camp, represented by organizations like Autism Speaks, accuse self-rights advocates of not wanting any therapeutic intervention, but that’s not the case.
For example, Uniquely Human (Simon and Schuster, 2015) was written by one of the leading autism researchers, Dr. Barry M. Preesant. According to neurodiversity advocates, this book demonstrates a deep understanding and empathy for the specific people behind the symptoms. Dr. Prizant calls to focus on understanding how this or that behavior arises. Difficulties in the perception and processing of sensory and emotionally colored information from the surrounding world should be considered not as a pathology, but as unsuccessful attempts to balance the world around autists, which they perceive as chaos. Not fighting rituals, but finding and expanding strengths is what will help improve the quality of life for autistic people, says Prizant, who has devoted the last 40 years to studying autism and practical application of the SCERTS methodology.
- How do autists see us?
Another book, Rethink Your Approach to Autism (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2015), a parenting guide that recounts the latest theories and latest approaches to working with people with autism in a popular and quite intelligible way, came out at the very end of 2015. Holly Bridges not only talks about the theory of multiple vagus nerves and brain plasticity, but also goes into depth about the connection between the body and the brain, and also suggests exercises for better coordination and conduction between different parts of the brain. Unfortunately, this is just a thin pamphlet, more intended to familiarize parents with the theories and the names of their authors, and it deserves to be written a long follow-up.
The new books on autism differ from each other in much the same way that people with autism differ from one another. Since autism is extremely diverse, the methods of dealing with it also cannot be the same for everyone. It is important that there are more of these methods, and parents of toddlers, like adults with autism, are getting more and more opportunities to use their right to choose.