In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan, Caren Zucker. This book was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. John is a journalist, broadcaster and debate moderator. Caren is a television news producer who has worked most extensively with ABC News. She also produced and cowrote a six-part series on autism for PBS in 2011.
The subject is certainly a challenging topic for many. Likewise, this book should be mandatory reading, not just parents of an autistic child. In fact, this can be used as a 101 textbook for society.
John and Caren are providing a foundational history of Autism. In fact, they are indeed providing the historical context to understanding medical and social developments in treating children. There is certainly a wealth of insights for any reader. Much of the discovery will surprise the reader.
Instead, their approaches treating children for “autism” began in the 1930s. Historically the examination of treatments for children labeled insane span the early 1900s. However, a significant European study was delivered on June 4th 1944. However, D-Day landings insured the report would be given little attention across Europe and in America.
John and Caren introduce Donald Triplett, the first child to be documented with autism. Dr. Leo Kanner who published a landmark paper Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact in 1943 established Donald’s diagnosis.
This contradicted the tale of Bettelheim’s theory of autism, in which the lack of a mother’s warmth to her child was the source of autism. This theory is also known for some reason as Refrigerator mother theory due to the term established in the mid 1950s as a label for mothers (or fathers) of children diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia
