NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman

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I, for one, am happy to welcome any NT ally. It's not waiting for a white horse. It's amplifying the message that needs to be heard. I don't see how disenfranchising those who want to help us will end up helping us at all. If anything, it alienates us further.




I mean,... I guess if you ignore those two chapters at the end...

I was a bit disappointed that modern advocacy efforts received such a small portion of the book until I remembered that it's a book about the history of Autism. It was already 400+ pages at that point. Current and future efforts are still being determined. By better understanding where we came from, NTs are better prepared to move forward with us.




Let's be real, here. No one has total control over the narrative about themselves. It has to be a cooperative venture.




Whoever said we were resting on our laurels? Did I miss something in the book that said we were done with our struggle?

And yes, the most prominent book on the history of Autism is written by an NT journalist. So what? The target audience is predominantly NT. To exclude this book from Autistic canon (for lack of better term) simply because an NT wrote it is unwise.

It's not the end all be all that you're framing it as. It's a step along the way to fuller inclusion. As ASPartOfMe says, it's an opportunity for a turning point. For me, the book isn't as important as the dialogue it has spurred in the form of NPR interviews with Silberman, articles on various newsfeeds, the Samuel Johnson Prize, etc.. Let's face it, the average person out there won't read a 500+ page book about Autism. But they will listen to a podcast or read a quick blurb or see a headline online about how maybe the general populace is wrong about Autism. And, yes, then it's upon us Autistics to further that discussion. If that discussion gets started through an NT ally's fastidiously researched book, so be it.

The Autistic advocacy movement has a long and rich history, and it isn't adequately covered in the book. Hopefully he will write a sequel detailing this.

I still feel uncomfortable with an NT being the most prominent voice when it comes to autistic advocacy. When it comes to rights for ethnic minorities, the main advocates are from ethnic minorities, with feminists the main advocates are women, disabled and transgendered people have disabled and transgendered advocates etc etc. I think it's a very bad idea to let people aren't on the spectrum control the narrative for us. At the very least he needs to be held to a lot of scrutiny.

All this has been mentioned to him by other Aspies, and he has been rather dismissive to these concerns.

Silbermann ain't no white knight for autistics. The real white knight will be a unified autistic community that stands up for itself and it's interests, and controls the narrative for ourselves.



This is why we as a community need to define for ourselves what Autism is, and take the role of the gatekeeper away from the medical professionals. I think this process is starting and I also think this will be the next chapter in the history of Autism. Perhaps Silbermann will end up chronicling it!

It would be good if an autistic person wrote this type of book about some aspect of autism.
I am tired of autistic autobiographies, I don't care about the details of some person's life, but if they have good ideas about autism with research to inform the ideas and the public, then it would be something fresh and interesting and of benefit to larger autism community.

Agreed. There are more than enough sob stories from autistic people in circulation. What we need is bold new ideas.

I went to hear a lecture he gave last night. I did not find him at all boring.



Sounds right.



That explains a few things. Every time he was asked about women and autism he talked about women for about a sentence and a half then diverted to more LGBT topics.



He could make a great ally for sure. Very sympathetic with an excellent understanding of Autism and Asperger's. He does pronounce it assburgers though.

I wanted to get his book but really couldn't afford a 25 dollar book right now. Not when we can't afford our utilities and VS credit payments...

Anyway I do wonder if any other local ASD wrongplanet people were there? At the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma on Thursday March 24th.

If you were...I came in late, stood in the back between a ventilation duct and a ceiling support column, wearing a squeaky black leather jacket and stimming by playing with my waist length hair.

If you saw me, next time you see me, say hi. I'm from wrongplanet too.

more than halfway through,still a great book