Customer Reviews

Autism and the Crisis of Meaning

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Autism as a diagnostic category is relatively new, and as such, the disorder is a long way from being fully understood. For the last decade it seems most attention to autism has been focused on identifying, categorizing, and treating the behavior of autistics, or on identifying and treating possible brain abnormalities. Few, however, have attempted to put together a coherent theory of how the autistic mind works from a subjective point of view. Durig takes a bold leap in his attempt to articulate typical patterns of autistic reasoning, and builds most of his arguments not upon scientific theories, but upon subjective accounts from people living with autism. Durig is not a psychologist, nor is he the parent of an autistic child, but as such he is not ensnared by the dogmas that constrain how we perceive of autism or its potential treatments either. He stands naively beyond raging battles amongst psychologists and educators concerning which cures to sell, and as such brings us back to considering the root of the problem. Some of Durig's conclusions about autism are truly enlightening, and others are absolutely infuriating. Although I do not agree with all (or even half) of Durig's theories, I commend him for pioneering a new way in which to begin thinking about autism, thereby bringing about a more comprehensive understanding of the disorder, and perhaps even ourselves.

You will not find a quick and easy explanation of Autism in this book. Instead, you will learn about an elegant theory of self, meaning, and communication. You will receive a nice review of abductive, inductive, deductive reasoning, and the scientific method. You will also learn about Autism within the context of the above theories and ideas.

I love this book because it helps me understand my autistic son, my normal neighbors, a sleazy used car sales person and everyone in between.

In the interest of fairness, I start assuming I'll be reading a four-star book and then knock off stars as serious flaws emerge.

The first flaw was that autism-from-the-autistic-perspective came almost entirely from one source, "Nobody Nowhere" by Donna Williams. The problem with using a single autistic autobiography as a source is that it is all too easy to take an autistic feature and make that "the key to autism," or worse... take a feature unrelated to autism and assume it to be autism. Durig does this with his use of "Willy" and "Carol" as part of the autistic construction of self. However, I didn't deduct a star for that.

The second major flaw is in the failure to address that autistic perception is meaningful. Durig uses the phrases "meaningful perception" and "Autistic perception" in such a way that also not intended as opposites, they can be construed as such. Durig doesn't use the term "meaningful Autistic perception" until fairly late in the first chapter.

The third major flaw is using Bruno Bettlehiem as a primary source for how autistics construct their self-concept. The problem is that Bruno Betttlehiem, while once seen as *the* expert on autism, was exposed as a rank fraud long before this book's publication.

As a former student of Dr. Durig at California State University, San Marcos the book reflects his class room lectures, which is filled with interesting examples and thought provoking information on the subject of Autism.