Autism. Explaining the Enigma Cognitive Development

Customer Reviews

A most important book on autism (but not a self help manual)

2008-02-28
I got interested in autism/Asperger's in 2003 after hearing an NPR interview on Autism (i.e. the growing rates of autism in Silicon Valley and Sacramento). I realized that Asperger's Syndrome must have been what was wrong with a manager I worked for a few years earlier at a major aerospace company (up until this point I thought he was just a jerk with a PhD). I then read a couple of articles in Wired magazine on the Geek Syndrome which really motivated me to do some extensive reading on the subject. Then I ran across Firth's book "Autism: Explaining the Enigma".

Of all of the books and articles I have read to date on autism this book is the finest introduction to the subject for those who are interested in what autism is and is not. Anyone with an ounce of intellectual curiosity will find this a highly rewarding book, however, if you are looking for a "how to" book on curing or helping someone with autism you will be disappointed. This book provides insight not answers.

What Firth tries to address in this book is identifying what the essence of Autism is. This is extremely important since many of the characteristic features of autism show up in other disorders which are not autism. Firth has a very high clarity of thought in her effort to identify what is and isn't the essence of autism. For example, while mental retardation is very common in autism (>75% according to some accounts), it is not the characteristic that makes someone autistic, since there are mentally retarded individuals who are not autistic.

What I really like about Firth's book is not only her clarity of thinking but the quality of intellectual honesty in dissecting the autism question. This is not to say that she has the last word on this topic - I think she would be the first to admit this - but rather that she has done the best job to date of sorting out the research and models of autism that have been proposed up to the date of her book.

The book is noteworthy for its readability. One does not need a graduate degree in psychology or cognitive science to read it. And Firth has done an excellent job of making this read an interesting subject through out the book. All said, I give this book a solid A rating.

A Parent's Opinion...

2007-07-16
This book is a tough read. As other reviewers have mentioned, it is really information-rich, but many of the research based theories are hard to connect. I am a fairly well educated person in general, but it was a little tough to follow at times.

Also, as a parent of a young child recently diagnosed with ASD, this book is difficult to read if someone you love has autism. It mainly focuses on what autistic kids CAN'T do, and doesn't offer much in the way of what treatments the author thinks would address the problem.

Oversimplified cognitive theory of autism

2004-03-14
This book, while it starts off going into historical tangents, showcases Uta Frith's cognitive theory of autism as a central coherence deficit. That is an inability to draw together information into a coherent whole. The author bases this on what seems to me more like a difficulty processing a lot of information at once, which seems to ignore a relatively common autistic ability to do more holistic processing in a delayed manner. She also supports this theory by pointing out differences in the way autistic people divide up information from the way non-autistic people divide up information, but she does not provide convincing evidence as to why this implies a deficit in central coherence (I could see things as related that she apparently could not). This is also the book that is somewhat famous among autistic people for stating, with no intended irony, that a belief in telepathy shows weak theory of mind.

The author is after what has become the holy grail of autism professionals -- a single definable "deficit" which all other traits of autism stem from. She believes she has found it in the central coherence deficit and possibly poor theory of mind, and dismisses traits that don't appear to stem from these things as not "pure" autism. This seems like a circular approach to research, but one that is unfortunately too common, that involves throwing out evidence that doesn't fit one's theory.

There are a good deal of facts in this book, and a good deal of attributes I recognize in myself as an autistic person. However, the way the facts were connected up did not seem to have much bearing on how things really work for me as an autistic person, which seems especially ironic in a book with a thesis that it is autistic people who lack an ability to pull information together properly. From the look of this book, it seems as if autism researchers can also have trouble putting together information into coherent wholes.

Great primary source for research purposes 2003-04-05
This is a book for researchers primarily. It introduces Frith's theory of weak central coherence as an underlying mechanism in autism. The theory runs (in a nutshell) that autistic individuals do not exhibit context appropriate responses to situation, events, etc. Relevance theory (cf. Sperber & Wilson) oils the wheels of Frith's theory.

The book opens with a long exegesis on a historical case and performs more than a bit of post mortem diagnosis. Such rational reconstructions of the past can be either very rivetting or tiresome. I wasn't convinced that the story avoided the latter pitfall. More enjoyable if shortened.

The rest of the book concentrates on theories of autism and their testability. The tussle between theory of mind (cf. Baron-Cohen's book: Mindblindness) is discussed and gives a brief foretaste of disputes that dominated the nineties'. However, the difficulty that central coherence itself faces is how to shape it into a coherent scientific theory? Frith doesn't entirely skirt this issue and there is much to be gained from simply reflecting on her approach to theory development.

Be warned that lighting up the research stage is a major focus of the work, and this will limit it's appeal. My final comment is not to buy this edition of the book, but to wait for the June 2003 edition. It can only be better.

Highly informative 2002-05-27
This book explains very clearly what autism is and what it isnýt. The book reads almost like a detective story as Frith guides the reader gradually into building an understanding of the nature of autism. She begins by simultaneously attacking the questions of how long autism has been affecting humans and whether bad parenting causes autism by reviewing the literature concerning wild or neglected children. She notes that some of the famous cases of wild children, such as the wild boy of Aveyron were probably autistic, based on their behavior following discovery, while others such as Genie were not, in spite of extreme neglect. Her argument is that if horrific abuse and neglect did not result in autism in Genie, then certainly any parents who treat their children better than Genieýs parents treated her could not be blamed in any way for causing autism in their children.

Frithýs central claim is that autism consists of a lack of drive towards central coherence. That is, autistic individuals are unable to or unmotivated to put different pieces of information together to construct a whole. This results in delayed language development, since autistic children lack the drive to distinguish speech sounds from random background noises, or deduce rules of grammar from sentences they are exposed to. Autistic individuals also have trouble learning social skills for the same reason, and they develop a very literal understanding of language. To support this theory, Frith draws on numerous ingeniously designed psychological studies that tease apart what autistic individuals can and cannot do.

While Frith doesnýt have any definite answers of what causes autism or how it can be prevented, she notes that there may be genetic causes in some cases. She also points out that about 75% of autistic individuals also have additional mental handicaps. She suggests that in many cases, perhaps even the majority, autism is just one of the problems in a brain that has suffered some sort of damage or injury during development. Towards the end of the book, the author notes that she doesnýt provide many specific ideas for treatment. Instead, she offers her scientific explorations into the nature of autism, in the hope that others might use this information to help autistic individuals develop ways to cope with or compensate for their challenges.

This book is highly academic and it draws on hundreds of published studies. It will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the topic.

Really information-rich book! 2000-02-28
The updated edition of this classic account of autism includes a new chapter outlining recent developments in neuropsychological research, and overviews one of the most important theoretical and practical consequences of Frith's original insights into this puzzling condition.

Updated edition of this classic account of autism.
Includes new sections covering practical and theoretical developments, and a chapter on recent investigations of the neurological basis of psychological impairments in autism.
Accessible to a broad general readership.

Important concepts for Educators & Psychologists

1999-08-30
As a professional counselor who recently started a support group for parents with autistic children this book has given me vital information on how to conceptualize this disorder. This knowledge has enabled me to connect with parents in a very realistic manner. When I interact with them and answer their questions, they hear the ring of truth in what I communicate to them about their child's behaviors and reality. I am very grateful to Uta Frith for writing such a fine book.

A Little Behind The Times

1999-06-08
I thought this book was a stiff and hard to read I don`t this is a good read for a parent.

Compulsory reading

1998-03-20
A classic of modern research into autism, this book explains clearly and readably the theory that autism is caused by the neurologically-caused lack of a "theory of mind", which makes the actions of others confusing and baffling to the person with autism.