I interview Steve Silberman about his bestselling book, Neurotribes

Post Reply New Topic

The idea of separatism is a thing that happens with a lot of activist communities based around a group identity. That doesn't make sense to me either. The particular needs of that kind of effort, e.g., setting up an intentional community for lesbian separatists, does call for a lot of practical focus, but the ideals are what drives all of that.

It seems to me this is an intrinsic part of the "spectrum" idea. There are sub groups within the spectrum where people have certain traits and other subgroups that seem quite different, so one would expect different people on the spectrum to get each other or not to differing degrees. It seems to me that part of the neurodiversity idea is respecting these differences and taking them into consideration, maybe something some groups are still learning how to do.

i read the book and the interview. i have not read this thread.

i liked the book and the interview. however for me the book made me feel quite isolated as an autistic person who is not good at maths, science or technology because of all the talk about how we are supposed to be great at that.

i am not great at any of that. im interested in technology and science and my technology skills are above average, but they're nothing amazing. my interests are in social sciences but the books sort of made me feel like they shouldn't be. like i should be really interested in sciences and maths instead. but im just not good at maths at all. i can barely do basic addition and subtraction.

the history parts made me sad. overall the book made me sad.

You don't have to be good at or interested in math, science, or tech.
Many autistic people are interested in social sciences or humanities too.
Or art and music.
Even sports, there are autistic people who are good at sports.
All kinds of interests and talents in autism, just like in neurotypicals.

Can not answer theft the way aI want captchas blowing away my answer multiple times I mostly agree the should not have limit suspected historical figures and some topics are brutal

I think those autistics who develop great talents do so only because they were lucky enough to develop them within a supportive environment. In those cases where you're kept from obsessing over your special interests by parents or teachers, you're going to be held back.

There's also the style of teaching. Even if it is on an interesting topic, it may be entirely tailored towards NT learning styles, making an aspie jump throughthe wrong kind of hoops, and unable to achieve their full potential.

Also depending on the age at which you end up becoming depressed, that too can hold you back, because it can utterly sap any motivation you may have to do anything.

I got this book on Audible and am listening to it for the 3rd time. I highly recommend listening to it, over reading it... At least for me, I didn't catch a lot of what I caught the 2nd time. And with the third time and catching nearly all of it. This book is fantastic! Thank you for interviewing him. And thanks to Steve for writing such an amazing, insightful book.

great

Thank you so much for writing this article and to the author for writing the book. I will be reading it soon because I am trying to mend the wounds on my psyche from growing up with the constant message from family, church, and peers that I am not good enough, that there is something deeply wrong with me, that I am shameful and evil because I've been autistic, fat, queer and trans since as far back as I can remember. To hear my family talk, as soon as I began to assert my personality around age four, I became a lost cause! But now I'm beginning to understand the reasons they said these things and why I am how I am, which is helping me gain self confidence and find some peace. I've gotten them to respect me and stop bullying me. I hope other kids' families can instead have compassion and acceptance for their autistic family members because they've learned better from books like these that are accessible to laypeople.

Thank you for linking this

I just finished the book. As a fan of Asperger's who started learning German in part to read Autische Psychopathen in the original, I love reading about psychiatric and diagnostic history, and as furious (particularly at Kanner and Lovaas) as some parts made me, the ending was wonderful.

Very impressive read.

Thanks for sending me an email about this article, Alex. I enjoyed the article very much. I posted it on my Facebook page because it's so interesting, I think it might help my friends understand more about the issues, I hope it will help a particular friend see what I am trying to say when I tell her that understanding, patience, and respect is better than "prevent and cure," and I think it will encourage a friend who has a young boy with autism. She's doing a fantastic job raising him, and I think this will help her.

Recent interview (this month) with Steve Silberman:

https://autisticuk.org/interview-with-steve-silberman/

"People with autistic traits helped us get to the moon, built a free global amateur radio network that anticipated the Internet, predicted the existence of antimatter, and made us feel the exquisite beauty of Bach — and that’s just a few random examples from one category of neurodivergence that I happened to run across for my book. If you think of how many major cultural advancements have been made by people who were bipolar, schizotypal, or chronically depressed, you start to realize that neurodiversity is not just about the contributions of individual geniuses, but about the whole texture of human culture. How do we treat the people who are working with us, but who may not think like us, on the grand project of advancing human culture? That may be the essential question of the early 21st Century."