Send in the Idiots: Stories from the Other Side of Autism

by Kamran Nazeer

_______________'This remarkable piece of true-life storytelling takes as its theme not disability, but humanity' - Independent'A fascinating read, balancing one's desire for scientific understanding with the author's own remarkable journey' - Tim Pears'It is through Nazeer's frank portrayal of these lives that we come to understand a little better what it is to live with autism' - Daily Express_______________A remarkable, elegantly written portrait of five autistic men and women, and what their struggles and triumphs reveal about this baffling condition and about us allWhen he was four years old Kamran Nazeer was enrolled in a small school in New York alongside other children diagnosed with autism. Here they received care that was at the cutting edge of developmental psychology. Kamran is now a policy adviser in Whitehall - but what of the others? With rare perception, he tells of their the speechwriter unable to make eye contact, the courier who gets upset if anyone touches his bicycle, the suicidal depressive, and the computer engineer who communicates difficult emotions through the use of hand puppets._______________'Fascinating not only for its insight into autism but for what it reveals about the way human beings understand the world. Part science, part philosophy and part personal account, Nazeer's triumph is that he balances explanation with human stories in a way that is lucid and, at times, deeply moving' - Scotsman

Genres: Nonfiction, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Psychology, Memoir, Biography, Health, Science

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 6, 2006

Reviews

[Velvetink · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half stars. Kamran Nazeer with high functioning autism, writes about his journey to seek out people that he went to a "special school for children with autism" with during his childhood. He seeks to find out what happened to them and how they have fared since and to compare his own progress. He only manages to track down a mere handful before his trip and so the book is divided into sections of their respective histories and current lifestyles. One of his childhood friends didn't make it - Elizabeth committed suicide. One did a prison stint for extreme violence and now talks with puppets when he cannot communicate. The others Nazeer tracked down led relatively normal lives with some success & happiness often breaking new ground living lives not thought possible since "Rain Man". Nazeer has some interesting thoughts about conversation and language and theory of mind that are worth reading and discussing further. He also believes that many people with Autism can "get better" and improve dramatically with the right intervention and help. This is his first book and he intends to get an Autism Bus together with another friend and travel around the country and find the other people from his "special school".

If you are new to autism either having a child recently diagnosed or yourself, this book isn't a good introduction to the subject. It will make you confused because Nazeer is so high functioning, writes well and has great insight. It does offer however, hope to parents and those diagnosed that the word "autism" is not a sentence but a beginning.

Here and there Nazeem seemed to lose the narrative a bit in his explanations of what a certain situation reminded him of. Or at least I felt in some places editing could have been tighter or made clearer with chapter sub-headings. That's my only gripe.

Library borrow

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was kinda of passive about whether or not I liked this book, and at some points I felt a little bogged down, but what a concept. The successful adult-autism-author goes back to his former classmates and teachers in a sorta of "where are they now" look at adults living with autism. Hear this variety of stories has helped me consider a lot of things i am finding hard to express as I type this...

I heard the author being interviewed on NPR. If I hadn't, I'm not sure I ever would have come across this book that I feel has been important for me. TGILNPR (Thank God I Listen to NPR *wink*)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Review: It’s wonderful to hear from an individual with autism. So frequently doctors, professionals, researchers, and parents write books about their clients and their children. While they have important and valuable insight, their description of the actual realities of autistic individuals are starkly lacking.

Mr. Nazeer brought up an insightful point about the nature of labels. Autism doesn’t predispose an individual to anything. Genius, idiocy, mediocrity- these are all things that accompany a person, not their particular label. Too often, people assume and judge based solely on labels. Labels mean nothing when it comes to individual uniqueness and the subjective realities within each of our worlds.

Eloquent and beautifully real, Mr. Nazeer depicts not only the autistic world, but the world of individuality itself.

[Spider the Doof Warrior · Rating 4 out of 5]

It annoyed me when that one fellow kept locking the writer in the bathroom for talking over his puppets. I know he's autistic, but that's no excuse. That's so rude.

This book is interesting. There's a bit of political talk you might not like if you're a conservative, as Kamran Nazeer is a political speech writer. Still, it's a fascinating look at adult autistic people. A perspective you just don't get enough of. Most perspectives are usually parents wringing their hands . We need to have more adult autistic perspectives.

Also, we need to get rid of functioning labels. This isn't a good review, because it's been a while since I've read this. I should probably reread it.

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kamran Nazeer attended a Primary school for autistic children in New York back in the early eighties. This, in itself, is quite unusual:

'It was the only class in one of the only schools in New York that had designed a special program for autistic children. Even that school had been founded recently and with private benefactions.'

His experience at such a school is not the topic of this book, though. What he does here is going on a journey to try and find out what became of some of his past classmates. It makes from touching portraits of various individuals on the spectrum. It allows him, beyond that, to touch upon broader subjects yet related to autism and its challenges. Meeting a computer scientist communicating complex feelings through the use of puppets is an opportunity to expand on the dynamic of language, and conversations as social performances. A bicycle courier illustrates how literally such people can take rules, besides blowing apart prejudice when it comes to romantic relationships (autistic people are not happy loners clueless about others!). A speech writer's experience turns out to be a great window into their dispassionate way of reasoning and arguing. Encounters with past teachers offers a glimpse into the perception of Special Educational Needs pupils, and autism in general, over the past decades.

It can insightful. It can be funny. It can also be sad, as when he meets with the parents of one of his previous classmate who ultimately committed suicide.

All in all, then, this is a deeply human book, snapshots from the lives of individuals on the spectrum and the people surrounding them. It's not very deep beyond that -discussions are very casual, and mostly the informal opinions from the author. He and his classmates were outsiders, at times taunted, often misunderstood, even used, but, nevertheless, most managed to strive and leads perfectly decent lives. Here's a lesson in acceptance, understanding, and humanity.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had I not known to look for such strategies, if historically I had not needed to do this throughout my life, then perhaps I would have done less well [.]

This is yet another work that took me nearly a decade to track down a copy of, but in the case of this particular piece, that gave me enough time for me to move from whatever horrendous opinion I must have had about autism to far more competently knowledgeable state I've achieved today. For you see, this work gets four to five stars for much of what is actually "from the other side," one to two for everything else. It's a piece written about autism by an autistic person and thus one that comes from a credible place of representation, but the strengths derived from such are still ones that had to pass through the rigor of what is required to "make" it in this benighted day and age of ours, and Nazeer's place of reference is certainly not the one held by many of the autistic folks I know today. So, while there are some gloriously relevant observations made when the author is actually out and about amongst those who have made a space for themselves, certainly through skill but also through a great deal of luck and circumstance, survivorship bias rears its ugly head as soon as Nazeer thinks he needs to make the ABA, Autism Speaks, I-don't-care-how-they-feel-I-just-need-to-fix-them type folks comfortable and forgo decades of his own reality for the sake of their approval. It's a shame, but being a member of a marginalized group doesn't make one an expert one everything that impacts it, and this, for all its many compassionate observations and professional credentials, still really can't see the forest for the trees.

I'm drawn to this explanation [that testing results are affected by autistic children understanding that they are being tested] because it suggests that the children involved are smarter, cannier, less passive than the clinicians observing them assume. I was one of those children. I'd like to think better of us. I'd like to think we were winning.

The whole deal these days with children, neurodivergency, neuroatypicality, and disability is how all fare under capitalism and the general kyriarchy. Take someone like me, who was raised in a manner that ensured I knew exactly how much my feeding, education, and general raising had cost my parents in time and, more importantly, money. I can't even imagine how my "childhood" would have gone had I never refrained from shutting up and doing exactly what I was told up until it was either stop doing that or jump off a bridge, as there was no room whatsoever for anything that would compromise my status as "prime financial investment." For anyone autistic or mentally/physically disabled, either you succeed enough on a "genius" level to be worth what is deemed to be "excessive" financial investment, or you're excised as cleanly and quickly as possible, and what can't be so directly done these days in the form of Nazis sterilizing the "unfit" is normalized instead through politics, pamphlets, and those who describe autistic people standing up for themselves as advocating "that their self-enclosure is or ought to be permanent." For if Nazeer's documentary style testimony is anything to go by, the problem isn't autistic folks' "self-enclosure", but non-autistic people refusing to step out of their capitalism, protestant work ethic, pull yourself up by your bootstraps or be free to starve on the streets mentality and realizing that, actually, your method of human sacrifice isn't more righteous and certainly isn't more humane than then the Ancient Greeks abandoning physically disabled infants to the elements. In other words, if Nazeer had forgone his visits with the "professionals" and instead expanded his view of his fellow classmates to far greater diversities, he would have gotten a much better grasp of things, perhaps even to the extent of getting out of his "representative democracy" neoliberal bemoanings and realizing his position was won on the backs of protestors, not people complacently filling out requests for information and passively going ho hum when such is suppressed. As it stands, I personally got something out of this text, but I wouldn't trust it with anyone who hasn't honestly engaged with autistic folks long enough to treat them as human beings, rather than as stock portfolios.

And those who are good at argument, the logical, the single-minded, the dominating types, well, don't they often have terrible opinions?

I'd like to read more books of this type, but as can be seen, they can be very hit or miss in terms of their humanizing potential. A decade and a half on from the time this was published, I'd like to think that a lot more good stuff has come out that come from a similar place of authenticity but are a lot less complacent in the face of the intersection of autism with the status quo, but money remains an issue, and the public face is still unfortunately represented for the most part by the patronizing blue puzzle piece. How all that's been impacted by COVID and every other instance of a variation of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that's occurred in the last two years is a very complicated question, but I'd like to think that it's harder to smudge things over with survivorship bias and "because capitalism" these days, so perhaps questions of accessibility and neurodivergency will accompany those on distance learning and communication technology. In any case, for all my foibles, it was nice to accompany my more scattered pieces of learning on autism and associated matters with something a tad more cohesive, and I could see certain passages doing autistic readers a whole lot of good (so long as they were prepared for the ending fallout). Indeed, certain passages did me a whole lot of good, for when it comes down to it, my ability to reach satisfying levels of executive functions, jump through various hoops, and otherwise ask "How high?" and deliver in most scenarios does not at all mean that the barrier between me and autism is iron clad. It's not as if I turned to this as a self help book, but it did end up being a good reminder of the hopeful realities of things, as well as of the work that needs doing to realize those realities.

Yet, in our view of [genius and progress], we seem only to ascribe value, we seem only to admire and remember and venerate the individual, not what was there before or what lay beneath. This is an autistic view of intellectual and social progress, one focused on the role of the autos.

[Laura Cushing · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the ages of 4-7, the author was in a school program for autistic children. As an adult, he tracks down the other children from his class and sees where their lives have taken them. One is a professional speech writer. One is a scientist, who speaks through his puppets. One is a bike messenger boy. One committed suicide. He also talks to the teachers involved with the program too. Along the way you get a lot of insight into the autistic mind, and into the lives of people who fall somewhere on the spectrum. I'd recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about autism, from the perspective of adults who live with it.

[Sally McRogerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is wonderful additional reading after "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" and anyone that enjoyed that book will hopefully enjoy this. The author was at a small school for autistics in New York in 1982. Over twenty years later he decides to follow up his school mates and see how they are and what they are doing. The result is a wonderfully personal but informative read and I greatly enjoyed this insightful book.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to hear such a range of signs of autism and functionality. It was interesting to see how the people who loved them helped them. It helped me see the right people won't look at you as a burden but they'll work with you, without patronizing. That was very comforting.
I gave it four stars bc sometimes the author goes on these tangents that are loosely related. They were interesting but didn't really seem to be about his classmates more about his worldviews. Sometimes they were memories which did tie in very well and other times, well, loosely related.

[The Angry Lawn Gnome · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some people on the ASD fail. Some succeed. That's about as profound as this one gets.

And quite frankly too little time was spent on any one character for me to feel any particular sympathy or empathy for any of them. This book seemed to degenerate into the literary equivalent of channel surfing. Suicidal soap opera *flip* successful speech writer *flip* puppet obsessed computer genius that you would do well to avoid spilling your milkshake on *flip* gay ASD bicycle messenger under thumb of controlling lover...and on and on. Maybe Nazeer's problem isn't so much ASD as ADHD-Combined?

And I'm still trying to figure out what the heck the "other side" of the other side is. It certainly can't be that there haven't been enough "tell all" biographies from just about every point on the spectrum. And even beyond, given the way authors (including Nazeer) continue to insist Kim Peek was autistic when he wasn't. (In fact, some days I feel like just about the only human on the spectrum who HASN'T done that tell all that's sure to bring fame and fortune. For a substantial advance and no due date...well, I'll take the idea under advisement. Once the check clears.)

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

When he was young, Nazeem attended a special classroom for autistic children in the early 1980's; abouyt 20 years later, he contacted several former classmates to spend time visiting/living with them to see how they are coping with the Real World. He also meets with the parents of a classmate, the head of the school and one of the teachers and hasvery meaningful conversations with all of them.

Not surprisingly - the writing tone is distant, almost clinical; yet Nazeem attempts to reflect on both his own emotions during the experience as well as those of his subjects, providing a valuable look at the mental processes of someone with high functioning autism. IMHO, Temple Grandin's (another autistic author) style is similar.

Nazeem discusses coping mechanisms such as "local coherence" performing a specific action over and over to provide a focus point when the situation becomes overwhelming. He finishes the book with general information on the condition itself - possible causes & treatments, as well as a discussion on whether autism is something that needs to be "cured".

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kamran Nazeer now works as a policy adviser in Whitehall, but he was sent to a school in New York City for young autistic children, when he was four. He looks up four of his classmates and describes what their lives are like now, as adults, or were when he found them. Andre is a computer scientist who uses puppets to communicate. Randall is a bike messenger in Chicago and in relationship with wealthy Mike. Craig wrote speeches for senators and Senator Kerrey, when he ran for president. He didn’t interview Elizabeth, but her amazing parents, because she committed suicide. He also interviews his teacher and the school administrator, but their interviews are somehow sadder. Each of his peers have had successes since school, but not so much Ira and Rebecca.

The title came from something Craig would say echolailically when they were all in school together. I didn't love this book, but it is interesting.

[Valarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, this appears to be a random assortment of biographical sketches of the author's former classmates. When you take into account that the author and all of the subjects were diagnosed with autism, though, the book takes on a whole new meaning. Nazeer eloquently explains the problems of special education and conventional attitudes toward autism. His insights into the workings of our society - from a man who is generally placed outside of social groups - are valuable for anyone, autism scholar or not.

[Michael Goldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some amazing observations on more than just autism (especially politics, which is the author's main profession). The problem is that as four individual stories, there is not a lot of emotional attachment to any of the "characters" through the description of their personalities and their lives.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so, so, so good! I don't even know how to describe it. But when the about the author states that "On leaving Cambridge, he was recruited into Her Majesty's Service" you know it's going to be good.

[Bookguide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in Dutch as a BookCrossing book ring (Daar komen de gekken). My review from BookCrossing:

Ik ben meteen in dit boek begonnen, en heb het binnen een paar dagen uitgelezen. Ik vond het een fascinerend boek over de levensverhalen en "coping mechanisms" van een aantal autisten, maar het werd beperkt door het feit dat Kamran Nazeer zelf zo terughoudend is. Het is een beetje onverwacht dat een autist zoveel rekening houdt met de gevoelens van anderen, waarschijnlijk omdat hij het zelf meer redeneert dan voelt. Zo bedenkt hij zich vaker op momenten waar hij eigenlijk wil doorvragen, want hij wil zijn gesprekspartner niet kwetsen. Zo loopt hij soms verhalen mis. Zijn vroegere schooldirectrice zegt dat hij geen autist meer is, maar de manier waarop hij reageert als hij niet op zijn gemak voelt, laat zien dat autisme niet overgaat, zelfs als je heel intelligent bent. Iedereen heeft gewoontes om orde in de wereld te scheppen, en veel mensen hebben iets wat ze doen op momenten van stress, zoals nagelbijten, spelen met haar of een pen. Maar voor de meeste mensen is dit min of meer onbewust, en ze kunnen ermee stoppen als iemand een opmerking maakt (om misschien later erin terug te vallen op een onbewuste manier). Hoe Kamran Nazeer het beschrijft is de behoefte aan lokale coherentie overheersend, en gebruikt (tenminste, in zijn geval) op een bewuste manier als afleidingstechniek. Hij heeft geleerd om zijn afleidingstechniek te beperken tot een minimum, en op een onopvallende manier te doen zodat het anderen niet afschrikt. Zoals in de verhalen van anderen te zien is, is dit niet altijd mogelijk.

In het boek gaat hij af en toe een heel stuk uitwijden over iets wat er eigenlijk niet bijhoort, zoals het stuk over Amerikaans politiek; maar dan brengt hij het terug naar autisme als hij vertelt dat de politiek van persoonlijkheden niet geschikt is voor autisten, die door hun rationaliteit alleen de politiek van argumenten kunnen begrijpen. De politiek van autisme zelf is ook interessant. Kamran Nazeer keurt de mensen af die vinden dat autisten iets bijzonders hebben, en dat zogenaamde normale mensen hen moeten accepteren zoals ze zijn. Maar positieve discriminatie vindt hij ook een beetje bizaar, alhoewel veel van zijn vroegere klasgenoten geen plek op de universiteit zouden hebben gehad zonder positieve discriminatie. Wat ik mis van zijn verhaal is meer informatie over de methoden op de school die blijkbaar bij hem hielpen. Waar het op neerkomt is dat de enige manier waarop autisten kunnen omgaan met de "normale" wereld, is om veel contact te hebben met familie en begripvolle vrienden en scholen, zodat ze de regels van de wijde wereld kunnen leren. Zonder begrip van hun naasten, zijn ze nergens, en als dat niet aansluit met hun ervaringswereld, gaat het mis. Hij pleit niet zozeer voor begrip voor autistische mensen, als voor meer - misschien gedwongen - contact en speciale scholen zoals de school in New York, zodat autistische kinderen kunnen leren overleven in de gewone wereld, want daar moeten ze zich redden. Speciale scholen zijn voor sommige (niet alle) kinderen nodig omdat ze vaak later of langzamer zijn met het leren van bepaalde vaardigheden, maar ze kunnen ze wel degelijk leren. In dit boek was ik zeer onder de indruk van de bekwaamheid van de school, maar ook van de grootmoeder die de tijd nam om een maand bij één van de jonge mannen in een appartement te gaan wonen om hem te leren hoe hij voor zichzelf kon zorgen, stapje voor stapje. Alle gezinnen in dit boek hadden de financiële middelen om de school te betalen, maar dit soort ondersteuning zou voor iedereen mogelijk moeten zijn. Gelukkig is er tegenwoordig meer mogelijk, niet alleen hier maar ook in Amerika, maar vaak moeten de ouders hard vechten om ondersteuning te krijgen. Zoals Kamran Nazeer zegt, simplistische verhalen over savants en genieën zijn niet altijd in het voordeel van gewone autistische mensen, net zoals de leugen dat iedereen ergens talent voor heeft niet door iedereen waargemaakt kan zijn. Boeken zoals deze die inzicht in de denkwereld van mensen die anders denken zijn heel waardevol (ik denk ook aan het boek dat ik vorig jaar las over een meisje met Tourettes), maar ze laten ook zien dat mensen die onder een bepaalde etiket vallen, net zo individueel zijn als elk ander persoon.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

liked this. The book was about a study that an autistic bloke did of his friends who he had been in touch with as a kid in new York. The interesting thing is that Kamran Nazeer is a 40 year old ugly Asian bloke who works in London, which is exactly what I am and do. The difference is that Kamran is Autistic or used to be himself. The book is about the interviews he did with the other autistic friends he had made as a child but now everyone has grown up. I’ve read a few books about autism and especially the savant autistics, they really interest me in line with my interested in seeing how far the human potential can take mankind. The examples of what some of these savant autistics have done is incredible. This book isn’t necessarily about any of them - these were “ordinary” autistic individuals but juxtaposed against a bland grey ordinary society they were anything but that. Here are the best bit:
• Conversation flourishes when we entertain each other. Conversation flows when we each of us, flit between different points of view. Conversation sometimes requires us to ask questions the answers to which we are not interested in ourselves but which we feel the other person might enjoy or appreciate the opportunity to provide.
• The other thing about conversations is spontaneity. Through conversations we find ourselves reaching views and trying out ideas that we wouldn’t otherwise get to. Very few people write which can be equally useful in this regard.
• The alligator provided what I described before as local coherence. I could focus on what I was doing with the clip and other matter could become just a backdrop. I didn’t have to worry about what I was achieving at the party. I could take a break and worry about the clip instead which was a simpler thing to worry about, a simpler thing to understand and to manipulate.
• They both had resources to mitigate their depression. They had their work which is often an alternative source of value. They read a lot of novels. They could talk most things through with each other.

[Hamaad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely memoir about an autistic man's meetings with other autistic childhood friends after 20 years. This book contains not only their experiences with the spectrum, but also clears things that are misunderstood about autism, things such as echolalia and local coherence are explained, and you get more of an intimate, human and closer look at the lives of autistic individuals. I also liked how this didnt make autism look like a monolith and something which is different amongst all individuals on the spectrum. I also loved the argument that is shown throughout that autistic people shouldn't have to live up to societal expectations, rather society should them to have their own norms and accept them as fellow humans.

If you are looking to understand the spectrum a lot better and get a closer look at those who live with it, give this a read.

[Frida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. Working with autistic children I often wonder what they’ll do as adults outside the bubble we’ve created for them in school. This is a thoughtful exploration of the lives of 4 people who happen to be autistic. Connected by attendance at a “special” school they were too young to remember that much about.

[Glenn Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant insight into autism from the personal perspective of those with the condition.

One of the most engaging, honest and well-balanced books I've ever read. Highly recommended for all.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It just needed something more to hook me for more of a quick read. The scenarios or human interactions were informative and really heartfelt. It just had a great deal of academic, dry jargon that made me less intrigued to keep reading. Finished it, but but now need to read some mystery fiction.

[Alina]

An interesting premise and well executed, I only didn’t like the implication of the phrase “getting better“. Because what it really means is that we get better at masking, not at actually being a neurotypical person.

[Jan Spohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights

I liked that this author as an autistic was able from reflect upon his upbringing and analyze how schooling impacted him and his classmates. Each individual remains an individual e even though all on the spectrum.

[Katie Tong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book into the lives of the authors old classmates (and 2 teachers). It looks at the lives they have lived and the impact autism had on them. I found the writing style quite unusual and it was a not a.simple read but definitely a book to recommend.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were good and had me engrossed but overall I found it stereotypical, cliche and confusing.
I have autism and I purely completed this books on the grounds that I have to complete a book.... Otherwise I would have stopped reading.

[Josephine Meeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek is geschreven door een autist. Hij weet op een geweldige manier uit te leggen wat de problemen van een autist zijn in het dagelijks leven. Zeer verhelderend om te lezen.

[Kourtney Maka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!!!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book ever written about high functioning autism , helped me to understand my son immeasurably better

[Sibylle Seys smets · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pas du tout accroché, c est clinique et froid, sans émotion, et ça ne me touche absolument pas.

[Sooraya Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

The life of people connected through autism. That Elizabeth chapter was so heartbreaking.