Mohammad Ghaziuddin

The problem I had with the book was that the second sentence of the prologue indicated failure of a most simple scientific error:

"For reasons that are not totally clear, there has been a marked increase in its [Austism's] prevalence in recent years."

The author clearly assumes a rise in diagnoses as indicative of a rise in Autism. This is fallacious reasoning.
Firstly, the Autism diagnosis has changed several times over the past few decades (as well as still favouring male symptoms, resulting in consistent under-diagnosis of women).
Secondly, the rise in public awareness of Autism, through advocacy groups, (social) media, and the popularisation in entertainment ('The Big Bang', 'The Good Doctor' - all, incidentally, focusing on male Asperger's) has meant that both parents and professionals are far more aware of the condition, thus making it far more likely be diagnosed.

I couldn't bring myself to finish this book for the reason given above: I have no faith in an author that makes such a mistake in the very first lines of their work. Apart from that, the book pathologises Autism and Aperger's - not surprising given the author is a psychiatrist - but quite sad as it is aimed at parents as well as professionals.… (altro)