Description
Book Synopsis''A magnificent opus ... extraordinary, spellbinding ... this book does what no other on autism has done'' Ann Bauer, Washington Post
*Pulitzer finalist 2017*
The stunning history of autism as it has been discovered and felt by parents, children and doctors
Nearly seventy-five years ago, Donald Triplett of Forest, Mississippi became the first child diagnosed with autism. In a Different Key tells the extraordinary story of the world his diagnosis created - a riveting human drama that takes us across continents and through some of the great social movements of the twentieth century.
The history of autism is, above all, the story of families fighting for a place in the world for their children. It is the story of women like Ruth Sullivan, who rebelled against a medical establishment that blamed refrigerator mothers for causing autism, of fathers who pushed scientists to dig harder for treatments, of parents who force
Trade Review
Donvan and Zucker's generous yet sharp-eyed portraits of men, women, and children - most of them unknown until now - make it stunningly clear that we all have a stake in the story of autism. We come to understand that we are all wired differently, and that how we treat those who are different than most is a telling measure of who we truly are. This is the kind of history that not only informs but enlarges the spirit -- Susan Cain, author of Quiet
Fast-paced and far-reaching... this is an important missing piece to the conversation about autism; no one trying to make sense of the spectrum should do so without reading this book -- Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree
