Unstrange minds Remapping the world of autism

Abstract

(from the jacket) When Roy Richard Grinker's daughter Isabel was diagnosed with autism in 1994, he knew almost nothing about it. It was considered a rare disorder, occurring in only about 3 in every 10,000 births. Within ten years, the majority of Americans would be familiar with autism. Scientists have now reported rates as high as 1 in 150, and major news organizations have called autism an epidemic. Driven to learn more about the dramatic increase in autism--both as an anthropologist and a father--Grinker set forth on a journey around the world, talking to mothers and fathers, physicians and teachers, advocates and scientists. Traveling from Africa and India to East Asia and the mountains of Appalachia to the National Institutes of Health, Grinker made a surprising and controversial discovery about the so-called autism epidemic that would change both his understanding of the disorder and his relationship with his daughter. This is the first book to show that the "epidemic" of autism is, paradoxically, a sign of how much the world has achieved in promoting autism awareness and education. The identification and treatment of autism has improved dramatically over the past few decades, and the increase in diagnoses is as much a product of culture as science. The shift in how we view autism, Grinker argues, is a part of broader societal shifts, such as changing attitudes about mental illness, the growth of child psychiatry and special education, and the rise of parent advocacy. More and more cases of autism are being documented, doctors are describing the disorder better, school systems are coding it better--and children like Isabel, along with millions of others around the world, are beginning to benefit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).