John Donvan

Caren Zucker

The stunning history of autism as it has been discovered and felt by parents, children and doctors Nearly seventy-five years ago, Donald Triplett of Forest, Mississippi became the first child diagnosed with autism. In a Different Key tells the extraordinary story of the world his diagnosis created - a riveting human drama that takes us across continents and through some of the great social movements of the twentieth century. The history of autism is, above all, the story of families fighting for a place in the world for their children. It is the story of women like Ruth Sullivan, who rebelled against a medical establishment that blamed "refrigerator mothers" for causing autism, of fathers who pushed scientists to dig harder for treatments, of parents who forced schools to accept their children. But many others played starring roles too: doctors like Leo Kanner, who pioneered our understanding of autism, scientists who sparred over how to treat autism, and those with autism, like Temple Grandin and Ari Ne'eman, who explained their inner worlds and championed a philosophy of 'neurodiversity'. This is also a story of fierce controversy: from the question of whether there is truly an autism 'epidemic', and whether vaccines played a part in it, to scandals involving 'facilitated communication', one of many treatments that have proved to be blind alleys. And there are dark turns too: we learn about experimenters feeding LSD to children with autism, or shocking them with electricity to change their behavior; and the authors reveal, for the first time, that Hans Asperger, discoverer of the syndrome named after him, may have cooperated with the Nazis in sending disabled children to their deaths. By turns intimate and panoramic, In a Different Key takes us on a journey from an era when families were shamed and children were condemned to institutions, to one in which parents and people with autism push not simply for inclusion, but for a new understanding of autism: as difference rather than disability.

The Story of Autism

In a Different Key

Reconstituindo um período de mais de oitenta anos, Outra sintonia é um retrato sensível sobre o autismo. No início da década de 1930, Donald Triplett chamava atenção por seu comportamento peculiar, sua tendência ao isolamento e sua incrível capacidade de memorização. Apesar das mais variadas explicações dadas aos pais, o diagnóstico certeiro só seria feito depois de anos de acompanhamento: Donald era autista. É a partir do caso da família Triplett e de tantas outras que têm ou tiveram contato com o autismo que os premiados jornalistas John Donvan e Caren Zucker traçam um emocionante panorama de uma condição que ainda hoje instiga leigos e especialistas. Fazem parte dessa história as discordâncias médicas, os tratamentos controversos e, principalmente, a luta das famílias para que seus filhos tivessem seus direitos civis garantidos. Amparado por uma extensa pesquisa, Outra sintonia reconstitui a história do autismo de forma humana e sensível, ajudando os leitores a compreenderem a questão em seu significado mais simples: como diferença, e não como deficiência.

John Donvan

About

Books

Join the club