What is autism: a devastating developmental condition, a lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more – and the future of our society depends on our understanding it.

Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years. Going back to the earliest autism research and chronicling the brave and lonely journey of autistic people and their families through the decades, he provides long-sought solutions to the autism puzzle while casting light on the growing movement of 'neurodiversity' and mapping out a path towards a more humane world for people with learning differences.

Speaker biography:

Steve Silberman is an award-winning science writer whose articles have appeared in Wired, the New Yorker, the MIT Technology Review, Nature, Salon and many other publications. He is the author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, which won the 2015 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction. It was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2015 by The New York Times, The Economist, the Financial Times, The Boston Globe, The Independent, and many other publications. His TED talk, ‘The Forgotten History of Autism’, has been viewed more than a million times and translated into 25 languages, and his article ‘The Placebo Problem’ won the 2010 Science Journalism Award for Magazine Writing, and was featured on The Colbert Report. Follow him on Twitter @stevesilberman

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