NeuroTribes– 2

Dr. Coplan continues his discussion of Steve Silberman’s new book.

I have just finished reading NeuroTribes – The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, by Steve Silberman. It is a worthy read.

I spent most of my career as a developmental pediatrician in academic medical centers, surrounded by trainees. And for the last 10 years, when I was in private practice, I extended myself to several of the nearby universities (PENN, where I held two teaching appointments, Villanova, PCOM, and others), with the object of having a trainee (nurse, physician, social worker, other) with me in the office, looking over my shoulder, at all times. The trainees always thanked me. My response was always: “It is I who am in debt to you. You are bright, observant, and inquisitive. What’s more, you haven’t reached that stage in your own professional development who you have begun to sort information into 2 categories: ‘Received Wisdom, Never to be Challenged,’ and ‘Everything Else.’ Because you do not come at the subject with this handicap, you have the refreshing habit of asking questions in novel ways, or forcing me to explain things that I generally tend to take for granted.” Silberman brings the same outsider’s eye to the subject of ASD. Read the rest of this entry »

The world turns upside down

The history of autism may be rewritten in the light of new evidence.

“Since 1938, there have come to our attention a number of children whose condition differs so markedly and uniquely from anything reported so far, that each case merits – and I hope, will eventually receive – a detailed consideration of its fascinating peculiarities.” So begins Leo Kanner’s landmark paper, “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact,” published in the spring of 1943 in the now-defunct journal “The Nervous Child – The quarterly journal of Psychopathology, Psychotherapy, Mental Hygiene, and Guidance of the Child.” Hidden within that seemingly innocent sentence is a startling clue that weaves together the best and the worst in all of us – including, I’m afraid, Leo Kanner.

In 1934, a bombastic little man with funny hair got himself legally elected as Chancellor of Germany – the self-proclaimed greatest nation on the continent of Europe – on a wave of racist xenophobia fueled by economic unrest. According to the charismatic man with bad hair, Jews were the cause of Germany’s woes, so Germany (indeed, all of Europe) needed to be made “Juden rein” (“clean of Jews”) – initially through forced expulsion (which might have worked, except there were precious few countries in the world who would accept Jews. The USA and Great Britain actively collaborated to prevent the entry of Jews into their own territories, even turning back refugee ships that had made it all the way across the Atlantic), but ultimately via the “final solution” of mass extermination. Read the rest of this entry »