The Bottom Line
Pros
- An Autism Journey book written by a dad -- hurray!
- An interesting exploration of an important question
- Well written and easy to follow the reasoning
- A nice portrayal of the real-life issues plaguing the autism community
- A unique approach to the question: Is autism on the rise?
Cons
- Looks like "science," but is really a personal account
- Uses, twists and reconstitutes statistics
- It's tough to really assess its significance.
Description
- A compelling memoir from the Dad of an autistic child.
- An anthropological journey into the world of autism.
- Well written, though bogs down a bit with numbers.
- Not entirely persuasive, but intriguing nonetheless.
- A gutsy reinterpretation of the "autism epidemic."
Guide Review - Book Review: Unstrange Minds, Remapping the World of Autism
Grinker, an anthropologist and the father of a daughter on the autism spectrum, has concluded that there is no autism epidemic. To prove his point, Grinker travels to Korea and India, countries where there appear to be few reports of autism. In both places, he finds that cultural issues have stifled such reports. Disability is a source of humiliation and dishonor in these cultures, and so autism is kept hidden and underreported.Back in the US, Grinker digs deep into statistics and finds that the so-called epidemic (meaning rapid growth in cases of autism) is really a numbers game. "Like fashion trends, diagnoses can spread," says Grinker, who raises the notion that autism is in fashion.
I appreciate Grinker's courage: it takes guts to say that "rising rates of autism" are new ways of reconceiving old ways of being. And I certainly appreciate his frustrations with a system that ignores his daughter's abilities so it can focus on her challenges.
I'm uncomfortable, though, with the way he sets up "anti-vaccine advocates," saying "[they] do not want to look closely at the research that provides their ammunition, at times dismissing in-depth analyses ...as methodological quibbles." While I tend to agree with Grinker in his conclusions, I felt that he, like those with whom he disagrees, plays with statistics and words to make his point. He compares the apparent rise in autism to similar "rises" in brain trauma and Alzheimers, and suggests that all are related, not to actual increases in cases, but rather to changes in reporting. Is he right? Well...he certainly could be. But not being an expert on Alzheimers or brain trauma, I can only take his word - or question it.
