Review by a formally diagnosed aspie

Before I start, I did a bit of digging around, and discovered the author has an autistic son -- apparently this is mentioned in the print version, but it is not mentioned in this version.

Therefore I believe that this work is biased because of a conflict of interest and possible denial around her son's diagnosis.

We also need to be very careful of words like suggests, maybe, perhaps etc, as all of these point to a degree of speculation on behalf of the author.

I have two main levels of criticism for this book; the first is her analysis of Hans Asperger.

It's absolutely undeniable that Hans Asperger was a cog in the Nazi machine, but I dispute whether his complicity was deliberate as alluded to in this book.

He was not a member of the Nazi party and actively resisted joining. We also cannot be 100% certain whether he was aware of the euthanasia policy of Am Spiegelgrund, or indeed whether he had any choice in the decisions he had to make -- we can, however, make an educated guess to the consequences of disobeying the regime.

The global ideology was eugenics, and this was not just a Nazi idea -- in the USA psychiatric patients were being sterilised and in Nazi Europe, parents were submitting their own disabled children for euthanasia; very few people were innocent and in some ways a lot of this behaviour was thought of as merciful.

In fact, in the USA some states practiced forced sterilisation right up until the 1980s

In order to make sense of this work in context, I would highly recommend reading (or listening to) Neurotribes by Steve Silberman as it gives a much better perspective on the time in which Asperger lived and the slow progress of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.

My second level of criticism is about the diagnosis and how the author seems to suggest it does not exist.

Sheffer suggests the diagnosis should no longer be valid -- she gives the impression that the idea of autistic psychopathy was a construct of the Nazi state, that it was given to kids who lacked 'gemut' (the Nazi idea of social spirit) and was merely a way of separating kids who wouldn't or couldn't conform.

This is nonsense -- autism causes difficulties beyond just social spirit -- it is often comorbid with GI issues, causes sensory sensitivity, problems with coordination and balance, nervous system dysregulation and so on. The social aspect is just the part of it most easily spotted.

In addition, she suggests that Lorna Wing (the creator of the term Asperger's Syndrome) regrets the diagnosis -- this is also wrong, or at least taken out of context, and interviews not long before she died still show her referencing Asperger's work and the time she met with him at the Maudsley hospital in London.

So, read this book with a cynical mind -- The author is not a clinician and this work is a biased hit piece and needs to be seen within the context of her own personal grievances.

I have Asperger's Syndrome -- that is what is written on my medical records and it matches my behaviour and character. My own personal belief is that it should have remained a separate diagnosis, but regardless of that, it goes way beyond a lack of social spirit.

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5 people found this helpful

Not what I expected

Made my hair stand on end, emotions choked, haunting images that will endure forever more.

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2 people found this helpful

beautifully written and excellent account

excellent account and it is clear that the author did an immense amount of research to support the notion that Hans asperger was more complicit in the Nazi regime that it first seemed. would strongly recommend.

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2 people found this helpful

Not at all cosy

An excellent, if discomforting, story of Asperger and his diagnosis. The discussion of the role of gemut and nazi philosophy is particularly interesting. All the more so as we live in an age when medical advice and state instruction are again becoming very intertwined.

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1 person found this helpful

Outstanding

This book as been really eyeopening for me as a historian and an autistic person, and has really helped me developed my thoughts on the history of psychiatry. Invaluable read.

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1 person found this helpful

Chilling

Very informative book outlining the background of Autism. Very haunting but well written. It took a while to get used to the reader but once I'd adapted it seemed appropriate.

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History

I have heard loads of different opinions of Hans Asperger in the autistic community, some think he was a saint who saved some autistic children from death and others think he was a murderer who chose which children lived and died.

This book puts Asperger's work into a historical context from pre-war Vienna to Nazi occupied Vienna to post-war Vienna. I contains loads of details, not just about autistic children but also other disabled and wayward children.

The book was shocking and chilling with insights into Nazi era psychiatry where children's worth was measured by their ability to be part of society, children could either be sent for remediation or sent to death.

I learmed a lot from reading this book.

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Unless you know information previously..

I’m sure this will shock you to great lengths however being aware of the history of asd as a ND person I find information important and when listening to this it was just going over information I already knew however if you want to shock yourself to the core you should look at images of the testing they did on children with shock therapies as behavioural therapies and how that is still done today.

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Harrowing History

Certainly worth listening to but be aware that the content is disturbing. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

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Skilfully written and researched, horrific subject matter

The most traumatising thing I’ve ever listened to / read, but very important. Approach with caution / lots of breaks. Every sentence is more upsetting than the one that came before and slightly less so than the one after. It’s genuinely horrific, but again, a book that I as an autistic historian of neurology found deeply necessary.

On another note, I was pleased by the narrator’s perfect pronunciation of German words as I get very annoyed when foreign languages are butchered just because they are interspersed with text that’s primarily in English.

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