This 14-minute video (see below) features Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity.
The producers say:
“Decades ago, few pediatricians had heard of autism. In 1975, 1 in 5,000 kids was estimated to have it. Today, 1 in 68 is on the autism spectrum. What caused this steep rise?
Steve Silberman points to ‘a perfect storm of autism awareness’ — a pair of psychologists with an accepting view, an unexpected pop culture moment and a new clinical test.
But to really understand, we have to go back further to an Austrian doctor by the name of Hans Asperger, who published a pioneering paper in 1944. Because it was buried in time, autism has been shrouded in misunderstanding ever since.”
(This talk was part of a TED2015 session curated by Pop-Up Magazine.
