Response to Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism

This book opened my eyes to many things I had no clue about before. I think this is a great book for anyone who works with or is the parent of someone with autism, or if you just want to understand the autism spectrum in general. There is a wealth of information contained in the pages, and I'm glad I had a chance to read it.

Unstrange Minds was written by the father of a girl diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified), which is to say she is on the autism spectrum, but her symptoms are not considered severe according to the child psychiatrist who diagnosed her. The author, tells the story of his daughter, and how he has spent his time since her diagnosis becoming an advocate and researcher on the subject of autism. His book details the history of the diagnosis as we know it today, and he explains in an easily understandable way how the autism "epidemic" came to be (and that it is not, in fact, an epidemic in the purest sense of the word). It's true that there are more diagnoses now than there have been in the past, but this is because the definition is not only broader, but we are more aware of it. On the subject of prevalence Grinker (2007) says:

"The bottom line is that reported autism prevalence has increased, but the real prevalence has probably remained stable. Given how much more rigorous and sensitive methods are today than just a decade or two ago, we should probably believe the newer, higher rates and question the older ones. But this does not mean that autism, as a disease, is more widespread. We see it differently. We see it more" (p.170).

I found the stories he shared from all over the world (South Africa, India, Korea, and more) to be heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. The changes that have taken place in the last decade in the way that autism is viewed by societies all over the world makes me hopeful for the future. In particular the story of the school in Korea that was protested by the neighboring families because they did not want their children to even see someone with autism, and today the school is the center of life and activity in the neighborhood brought me great joy.

My favorite quote from the book is:

"The culture of science makes us believe that medicine and psychology can tell us truths about our bodies, when in fact they can only tell us about the particular set of phenomena we're looking at, or more precisely, about what our time and culture tell us is meaningful to look at" (Grinker, 2007, p.130).

References

Grinker, R. R. (2007). Unstrange minds: Remapping the world of autism. New York: Basic Books.