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In this unusual book an evolutionary anthropologist and her coauthor/granddaughter, who has Asperger syndrome, examine the emergence and spread of Asperger syndrome and other forms of high-functioning autism. The authors speak to readers with autism, parents, teachers, clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, other health-care providers, autism researchers, evolutionary biologists, geneticists, paleoanthropologists, and people who simply enjoy reading about science.
Using the latest findings regarding brain evolution and the neurological, genetic, and cognitive underpinnings of autistic individuals at the high end of the spectrum, Falk theorizes that many characteristics associated with Asperger syndrome are by-products of the evolution of advanced mental processing. She explores the origins of autism, whether it is currently evolving, how it differs in males and females, and whether it is a global phenomenon. Additionally, Eve Schofield, who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome as a child, provides firsthand accounts of what it is like to grow up as an “Aspie.”
About the author
Dean Falk is the Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology and the Hale G. Smith Professor of Anthropology at Florida State University and a Senior Scholar at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Among her earlier books are Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants, and the Origins of Language and The Fossil Chronicles: How Two Controversial Discoveries Changed Our View of Human Evolution.
Eve Penelope Schofield earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing and publishing from Bath Spa University in Bath, England.
Summary
In this unusual book an evolutionary anthropologist and her coauthor/granddaughter, who has Asperger syndrome, examine the emergence and spread of Asperger syndrome and other forms of high-functioning autism. Falk theorizes that many characteristics associated with Asperger syndrome are by-products of the evolution of advanced mental processing.
