Unstrange Minds
by Roy Richard Grinker
POPULAR SCIENCE
ICON
05/06/08
Isabel was diagnosed with autism when she was two. She’s a fascinating person, obsessed with animals and Monet’s garden, and seeing Indonesia in rain puddles. In Unstrange Minds, her anthropologist father embarks on a quest to get to the heart of autism and today’s apparent epidemic.
He investigates the history of autism, from its ‘discovery’ in 1943 to the ins-and-outs of diagnosis today, before jetting around the world to look at the place of the disorder in other cultures. In Africa, he meets Big Boy, diagnosed by the local shaman; in India, he encounters parents who discuss which gods are autistic.
From his struggles to get the best education for Isabel, to the day she stumps a Smithsonian scientist, this is an amazing, enlightening read. Bringing to light the positives of autism as well as the terrible stigma surrounding it, Grinker succeeds in his aim to make visible those who are invisible.
Isabel Popple, Waterstone's Truro
Become a Waterstone's reviewer
and help other reader's discover their next book
Already a Waterstone's reviewer?
To review this book now, click
