Think about it: why would the community of human minds be less diverse than, say, a rainforest? But it isn’t. But it’s based on a false model of how human brains work, and it ends up stigmatizing and marginalizing people who have tremendous gifts to offer society. That belief prevailed through most of the 20th Century, when psychiatrists elevated themselves into a position akin to secular priests. Steve Silberman: In part, learning the history can help them avoid making the same mistakes that educators and clinicians made in previous generations - such as believing that there is a normal child trapped behind the “autistic shell.” As a society, the history of autism makes clear that the notion that there is one best way to learn, one best way to experience the world, and one best way to be human, is bunk. Michael McWatters: Why should an educator learn about the history of autism? I’m not just thinking of teachers who work with special needs students, but those who work with typical children as well. The history of autism makes clear that the notion that there is one best way to learn, one best way to experience the world, and one best way to be human, is bunk. “If you understand that the autistic students in your class are just as complex and nuanced and intensely emotional and hopeful as you are,” says Silberman, “you’ll do everything in your power to help them lead happier and more engaged lives.” In the must-read interview below, he explores what teachers need to know about autism and neurodiversity.

He gave a TED Talk on the forgotten history of autism, and recently spoke before the United Nations on the need for acceptance and understanding of neurodiversity. Steve Silberman is a writer and contributing editor for Wired, and the author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity (which will be out in paperback on the 23rd).

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