Diagnosing Jefferson [Hardcover]

Norm Ledgin (Author), Temple Grandin (Commentary)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2000

Historians have long remarked on Thomas Jefferson's "peculiarities." But it took author Norm Ledgin, whose son has Asperger's Syndrome, to see what others did not. In this intriguing book, Ledgin carefully constructs a convincing case for the likelihood that Thomas Jefferson had Asperger's Syndrome. He matches Jefferson's behaviors with five diagnostic criteria for Asperger's: social impairment, preoccupation with "special interests," impairment in nonverbal communication, lack of emotional reciprocity, and inflexible adherence to nonfunctional routines. He also addresses other well-known signs of Asperger's, such as failure to recognize social cues, need for calming pressure, and indifference to peer pressure. A fascinating read!

Helpful chaptes include:

• A Truth Not Self-Evident
• A Reluctant Celebrity
• A Logical Choice
• Separate Realities
• Magnificent Obsession
•  "Disastrous Legacy"
• "Glacial Exterior"
• Relative Insensitivity
• The Man in the Red Vest
• "A More Universal Acquaintance"

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is fantastic! Talent and intellectual giftedness is often associated with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. There is a continuum from normal to abnormal. A small amount of these traits can provide an advantage in being able to think objectively. Thomas Jefferson used these advantages when helping to create our system of government.”
Dr. Temple Grandin

 

“This work is important on three levels. It presents evidence to substantiate the hypothesis that Thomas Jefferson exhibited symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome….To parents, educators and caregivers who deal with children with Asperger’s Syndrome the book offers hope, reliable information and invaluable experience-based guidance.”
Dr. Richard P. McCormick, Professor Emeritus in History, Rutgers University

 

“This book is good for the serious student of Asperger’s Syndrome. Parents and professionals should encourage the person with Asperger’s to read this to recognize the value such individuals have, and have had, to our society. There are genuine heroes with Asperger’s.”
Dr. Tony Attwood

 

About the Author

Norm and his wife Marsha were professional partners as safety educators, and then business partners in weekly newspaper publishing for fifteen years. With this book, they have renewed their professional partnership, after a hiatus during which they dedicated themselves to full-time parenting. They have two daughters, Stephanie and Allison, and three sons, David, Alfred, and Nicholas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Future Horizons (August 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885477600
• ISBN-13: 978-1885477606
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #859,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personally Inspiring, October 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Diagnosing Jefferson (Hardcover)

This book has meant a lot to me as a teenager with an Asperger condition.

My Dad called my attention to it and said jokingly, "Maybe you'll learn a little history." But I also learned about myself, reading about so many things that bothered Tom Jefferson that also bothered me. Thanks to this book, they don't bother me anywhere near as much as they used to.

I'm proud we shared many of the same "quirks."

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There are genuine heros with Asperger's Syndrome, December 13, 2000

By 

Dr. Tony Attwood (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diagnosing Jefferson (Hardcover)

I would recommend it for the serious student of Asperger's Syndrome. Parents and professionals should encourage the person with Asperger's to read this in order to recognise the value such individuals have, and have had, in our society. There are genuine heros with Asperger's Syndrome.

60 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To understand what made Jefferson tick, this is the book., May 3, 2001

By 

Michaela (Mickey) Schlegel (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diagnosing Jefferson (Hardcover)

I've read Mr. Ledgin's book, and I've read several Jefferson biographies. Obviously the critics of this author have not read Diagnosing Jefferson through, and they have admitted as much. Intellectual integrity requires more.

The author has examined and exploited helpfully something all other biographers have missed--the opportunity to identify whatever the basis may have been for Jefferson's many idiosyncrasies and so-called contradictions. Had the biographers simply assembled the quirks puzzling them and discussed them with a neuroscientist or developmental pediatrician or psychologist, they would have arrived at the same conclusion Mr. Ledgin has given us.

A staff member for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Dianne Swann-Wright, admitted on the Today show last year, "there was a personal side of Thomas Jefferson that many of us just simply haven't been able to understand." Mr. Ledgin explains that personal side in order to help us understand. Does intellectual curiosity extend only so far as scratching one's head, or are historians ready to listen to well-reasoned answers based in careful research?

I heard Mr. Ledgin speak in Charlottesville, Va., at the Festival of the Book this year. He is more knowledgeable about the very personal side of Thomas Jefferson than most, if not all, the biographers whose works I've read. It should be obvious to a reader of his entire work, including his bibliography and footnotes, that he has examined the Jefferson literature thoroughly, which is what he wrote was the basis for his assembling the eccentricities. His placing of Jefferson on the autism/Asperger's continuum as a result has been backed by at least four experts in that field and another in the behavioral sciences.

This is a landmark work. We must understand that autism and its high-functioning feature, Asperger's Syndrome, are parts of a spectrum condition; some people are disabled by it, some are enhanced by it. The author explains all of that extraordinarily well. One can be both productively brilliant and a high-functioning autistic--like Jefferson, quirky as can be, but a great achiever and mental giant nonetheless.

The reader can learn as much about Asperger's from this book as he or she can about Jefferson. For understanding what made Jefferson tick, this is the book to read.