-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email Steve Silberman was one of the greatest writers to ever put pen to paper about the subject of neurodiversity. Yet Silberman was not autistic; I learned this because, on the one occasion we had a conversation that made it to print, I accidentally claimed he was. "The main problem that autistic people and their families face is the lack of support and resources across the life span.
" I erroneously believed that to be the case because, when Silberman wrote about neurodiversity for Wired , he wrote with a passion and authority that could not be denied. When Silberman explored the concerns of people who are neurologically different, he had the detailed knowledge of an expert — and the empathy of someone who has also walked the walk. This is why he is perhaps best known for authoring "NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity," a 500-page classic that is part detailed historical narrative, part scathing sociological critique.
With "NeuroTribes," Silberman traced how society has attempted to diagnose and treat autism, as well as by extension other neurodivergent conditions. Yet instead of centering the doctors, parents and other "normal" people, Silberman kept the neurodivergent people themselves as the focus of his work. Related Why autistic people (including me) are self-medicating with cannabis In short, one can be forgiven for thinking he was autistic himself.
He wrote like someone who literally lived as an autis.