Autism in other cultures

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Hi everybody,
I wonder if anybody knows how other cultures treat autism? Are there cultures that deal totally different with the topic of autism?

I believe that many of the so-called "diseases" of the brain are not diseases, but rather emerged in the course of civilisation in response to changing living conditions. For example, ADHD allows a super-fast reaction time in the event of danger. Such an ability can make the difference between life and death in a stone-age tribe. Accordingly, such people may have been viewed differently in other cultures because their unique traits could also be helpful.

But back to the topic of autism: as mentioned: Are there other cultures that deal with autism entirely differently? Does anyone know more about it?

OK, I already found the first trace.

The book is called Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism. It documents the global quest of an anthropologist (Roy Richard Grinker) who is the father of a child diagnosed with autism. Grinker shows that the identification and treatment of autism depends on culture just as much as it does on science.

Here is also a review: https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2006/ ... nge-minds/

But I guess there is much more information on the topic.

We have posters from many different cultures here on WP.

WP Thread - Autism In France: Psychoanalysis, Packing, Other Travesties

Thanks for the link; I will read it immediately [EDIT: in the meanwhile, I started reading. The French situation is really very shocking. I hope it changed in the meanwhile. The information is already 9 years old. /EDIT] What I am looking for is rather about Autism and (and other forms of neurountypical behaviour) in ancient cultures. Maybe I should have been more specific in the first post, but it does not really matter, cause we will discuss it anyway.

"Modern" societies such as Europe or the US are very close to each other if you compare them to ancient cultures. I would like to know if, e.g. autism had a special function in ancient tribes, but this function is no more needed nowadays. I hope, I could explain what I have in mind. If not, just ask.

To rabo:

You might want to ask the moderators to move this thread to the Autism Politics, Activism, and Media Representation sub-forum. You posted it in Politics, Philosophy, and Religion, which is more for discussion of general politics, unrelated to autism.

Thanks. If you think so, it might be better. I do not know, I am relatively new to the forum.

@mods, if you read that and agree, please move it to the suggested forum. If you think it should stay here, it is also OK for me.

thread to get moderator attention

Done

One thing autism-friendly about my culture: we don't pay that much attention to eye contact, when you avoid it, people just think you're shy.

Those with autism often feel out of place within their respected culture, regardless of its norms. I think different cultures have varying levels of tolerance for those who are different. Isn't France criticized for its treatment of autism?

Thanks!

Maybe I did not explain my intentions clear enough. I did not mean France or Poland as it was suggested in the answer above. I rather meant ancient tribes or let's say Aboriginies or American Natives. And I do not speak about tolerating, I speak about autistic persons as a necessary function within the tribe. So the question is more about anthropology or maybe ethnology.

Like this? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... way-seeing

Overall Western countries generally are more socially inclusive of autism compared with non-western countries. But this is complicated by collective cultures where an autistic child is more likely to be accepted and tolerated within the extended family compared to individualistic cultures where the child might be more accepted by the wider society but feel more isolated from their immediate family.

[citation needed]

Really. I'd like to know the sources of this claim. Unless by "non-Western" you mean only Han China and Japan.

YES!! ! That is exactly what I was looking for. My idea was something like that: Autism is not a "disability" to however you want to call it. It is a very specialized qualification that is maybe no more needed in modern society.

If that is right, that brings a 100% change of the view towards autism. Because if so, it is the society that changed and created a problem that was not here before. I would be very interested to learn more about that idea.

OK, to be honest. The word "Western" was not very well chosen. I should have said "industrialized" countries. Just have a look to my last answer. There I explain it in detail. The point is the process of industrialization.