Reddit reviews NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

Here's the full quotation, which is even cooler but too long for a title.

> "When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket." -Nikola Tesla, 1926

I found this quote in Steve Silberman's phenomenal NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, which is a great read on the history of autism and its role in shaping the modern technological landscape.

I'm sorry to say that your doctor was misinformed and has put you through years of unintentional torture by being misinformed and loud about it.

Read NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman. This is the single best book on autism spectrum disorders (including Asperger's) out there.

Autism is not a new thing: it's been around since Euripides. If 'most' autistic people never get married and have kids -- where the hell are all the autistic people coming from? Shit's genetic and in vivo mutations are pretty darn rare.

Hello! I have Asperger's. I will keep this quick & to the point.

1. Read Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and Future of Neurodiversity (https://www.amazon.com/NeuroTribes-Legacy-Autism-Future-Neurodiversity/dp/158333467X) ... This book is an amazing compilation that not only gives you social context for how this diagnosis came to be but also how it has been treated over the decades. We've come a long way with psychiatric care in general, but this book introduces a philosophy of acceptance that resonates very strongly with me. It speaks towards cultivating the strengths of autistm/aspergers, and accepting shortcomings.
   
   
2. I am 30 years old myself, and I learned about asperger's and all of this late in my journey (3 years ago). If I could talk to little me today, at the age your affected family member is now, I wouldn't give them very much advice so much as I would listen and pay attention to what makes he or she tick. Listen and observe and don't let social norms get in the way of enabling that child's strengths and passions. True, this could just be general parenting advice, but it is especially true for autistic children. This world is generally not built for them, and much of their life will thus consist of adapting to adhere to the norms of the broader, more common, "neurotypical" methods. You have the unique chance to know about this early, and can thus co-create a world with the aspergian that serves them.
   
   
3. I spent 20 some odd years trying to unbecome who I am in order to fit into a neurotypical world. In the years since being diagnosed, I have now focused on re-becoming who I was born to be; the person I was socially conditioned OUT of being. I've reconnected with who I am fundamentally. And that's been difficult but rewarding. I stopped trying to beat my head against the wall at parties and resumed filling my head with knowledge, because I LOVE LEARNING FACTS AND IT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY and for too long I let social norms scare me away from being my more reclusive yet contented self. This is just one such example of how tricky it can be to remain authentic in a system typically designed to homogenize.
   
   A lot has changed since I was a kid, and you having the knowledge you have now, and forums like this, is an amazing resource. Raise that kid like he's different, because he or she is. But please, pretty please with a DSM-V on top, please... don't raise that kid like he's disordered.

Het speelt meer in Amerika dan hier, maar het is er toch wel. Zie bijvoorbeeld dit boek, of dit boek, of fora zoals http://wrongplanet.net/, en Temple Grandin's gedoe over hoe ze zich door haar autisme zo goed kon inleven in de beleefwereld van koeien. Als autist sta ik zelf meer aan de kant van mensen die je hebt ontmoet, maar het zijn niet alleen maar nadelen.