"Not Only a Disease, but as a Historical Aberration"

"So, if it's not vaccines, it's Wi-Fi or it's pesticides or it's antidepressants in the water supply. It's some factor in the toxic modern world. But once we realize that autism and autistic people have always been part of the human community, that there were always autistic people there, but they were hidden away, either behind the walls of institutions or behind other diagnostic labels, not getting the help that they need, we understand that autism is a very, very common disability, as Hans Asperger believed.
"It's not some rare form of childhood psychosis caused by parenting, as Leo Kanner believed. Because we have thought of it as the toxic byproduct of our modern world, we haven't thought about making accommodations for, for instance, the many autistic adults that are out there."

William Brangham on the PBS Newshour interviews Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes.