In this, the final episode of Noncompliant, I spoke with Shannon Rosa, editor of Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. She shared her memories of her good friend Steve Silberman, author of the groundbreaking history of autism & the neurodiversity movement, Neurotribes, which featured Shannon and her family. We talked about Steve and his legacy for our community.
This episode features clips from the first episode of Noncompliant, where Steve talks about autism and his work, and includes a closing note of thanks to Noncompliant listeners as the podcast ends.
Bio Shannon Rosa is senior editor of Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, an autism information and advocacy nexus. Her writing can be found in The Washington Post and the anthology Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement, among other places. She lives near San Francisco, California, with her husband and adult autistic son.
Transcribed by Julie Ann Lee: Transcript_ SteveSilberman-Noncompliant . Bio Steve Silberman is an award-winning science writer whose articles have appeared in Wired, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications. His book NeuroTribes became a widely-praised bestseller, winning the 2015 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction and was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2015 by The New York Times, The Economist, The Independent and many others. His TED talk, “The Forgotten History of Autism,” has been viewed more than a million times and translated into 35 languages. He lives with his husband Keith in San Francisco, where he is working on a new book, The Taste of Salt (discussed in this podcast).
The impact of Neurotribes Neurotribes really changed the public conversation about autism in some radical ways. It meticulously traces the history of the autism diagnosis, synthesizing a forgotten history of the residential institution era, while also giving detail and context to competing notions of the diagnosis in the medical literature across time (and the impact of that competition). The book traces shifting understandings of autism in society, explaining how medicine, culture and grassroots activism came together for both a rise in diagnosis and new understandings about autism and neurodiversity. Neurotribes creates a context for what we see today: how our social institutions and media interpret, respond and portray autism.
Since writing Neurotribes, Steve continues to speak and write about autism, but always with a mind to refer to “the real experts”: autistic people. We talked about this, as well as his new book project; neurodiversity; autistic history; platforms of communication; states of being; the rise of false news and our need for honesty; inspiring new youth movements; and the power of continuing the work of social justice when we have no choice but to carry on.
