Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone

Qualitative Studies in Psychology Series

by Douglas Biklen, Larry Bissonnette, Lucy Blackman

Engages with the perspectives of people with autism, in their own voices

Autism has been defined by experts as a developmental disorder affecting social and communication skills as well as verbal and nonverbal communication. It is said to occur in as many as 2 to 6 in 1,000 individuals. This book challenges the prevailing, tragic narrative of impairment that so often characterizes discussions about autism.

Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone seriously engages the perspectives of people with autism, including those who have been considered as the most severely disabled within the autism spectrum. The heart of the book consists of chapters by people with autism themselves, either in an interview format with the author or written by themselves. Each author communicates either by typing or by a combination of speech and typing. These chapters are framed by a substantive introduction and conclusion that contextualize the book, the methodology, and the analysis, and situate it within a critical disability studies framework. The volume allows a look into the rich and insightful perspectives of people who have heretofore been thought of as uninterested in the world.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Disability

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Dora Raymaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this sounds cheesy, but in this case it really is meant literally: If you only ever read one book about autism in your life, read this one.

This book not only debunks a number of the most damaging and incorrect assumptions about autism and autistic people, but actually uses primary sources (the experiences of autistic people themselves) to challenge those assumptions and debunk those myths.

This volume should be mandatory reading for anyone who does any sort of work with autistic people, especially anyone in a research field. It is absolutely critical that 1) assumptions about stereotypes are challenged, 2) autistic people are included as primary sources and subject matter experts on the subject of autism.

[☾⋆｡ A °✩.⟡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some other reviews of this say that "if you're only going to read one book on autism let it be this one" and I cannot express how much you should not do that (at the risk of sounding arrogant - I suspect those reviewers do not read a whole lot on this subject).
This book should be nothing more than a starting point - it is interesting, and presents autism in a way that was progressive for the time, but 20 years later it does not hold up.
There are definitely good aspects; it personally made me feel connected to types of autistic traits that I have never related to. But, for the most part it is far too uncritical. It is not informed by Crip theory or neurodiverse studies, and seemed to be strangely selective and inconsistent about the parts of its subject matter that it wanted to challenge.
My main issue with it is that the book is supposed to be about challenging stereotypes of autistic people as isolated, but spends most of its time discussing the 'intelligence' of the autistic authors. There is this idea that writing their chapters is a way of rescuing the authors from the label of 'retarded' that most of them were given, and therefore proving that the treatment they received on the basis of that label was unjust. Absent however was any challenge to the notion of retardation in general. There is a sort of weird implication in the argument that the authors deserved better because they weren't 'retarded' that those who actually are do not.
It's great that the book highlights voices that usually wouldn't get anywhere near print, but that doesn't mean it does it well.

[Faith Major · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting collection of narratives, that create some borderline disturbing questions. Does everyone with the autism diagnosis have, though in different personal worlds, a similar experience of being trapped, unable to communicate in a body that is incapable of conveying their true capacity for thoughts. The only thing different about these authors being the support that so many others don’t receive. Or are they the unique cases and the only reason they can communicate in their own ways is because they are the only ones who truly possess that level of thought? However if this book has taught me anything it’s that it’s arrogant to say that just because people do not think in a neurotypical way it makes their thoughts any less real or experiences any less deserving of consideration. I don’t think we’ll ever know anytime soon, but these well written personal narratives certainly create food for thought.

[Charlotte Hajduga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. This fives depth and insight to people who can not communicate through speech. It is a series of stories all true, based on real people who have difficulty expressing themselves due to the inability to vocalize their thoughts, feelings, ideas, a communicate with the rest of the world. The stories here will help you understand that even though the person is unable to speak, they are intelligent, creative, human beings with feelings. ALL of these people have experienced the cruelty and ableist perception of what others "think they know about communication disability" Imagine being unable to speak and people around you talking about you like you can not hear either, calling you names, referring to you as stupid or even retarded, and not being able to defend yourself verbally or in writing. Now imagine yourself hearing this an knowing you are actually aware of these labels and are highly offended and your IQ is actually higher than theirs. Once the people in the book are given tools to communicate through assistive devices, their lives change forever and they are able to tell their stories and their experiences and teach others about what they have been through. This is a must read for anyone in Special Education or Autism Studies. It will transform your perception about "presumed competence" and the reality behind what is happening in the human brain of those who are unable to communicate with us "yet". This a is profound experience to read this brilliantly written, documentation of what Non-verbal is and the potential of what it can become.

[Iamshadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read no other book about nonspeaking autistic people, you should read this one, just to see how rich and vibrant and diverse their lives and voices can be. Nonspeaking doesn't mean having nothing to say. It just means the communication takes a different path.