*A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick* An "ambitious work" ( Washington Post ) tracing the links between autism and ingenuity Is the ability to invent things unique to humans? In The Pattern Seekers , Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen argues that it is, and proposes that autistic people have played a key role in human progress for seventy to one hundred thousand years, from the first complex tools like the bow and arrow and the first musical instrument to the digital revolution. He presents the science that the same genes that contribute to autism enable a special kind of pattern seeking that is essential to our species' inventiveness. However, these abilities come at a cost for autistic people, including social and neurological challenges. Baron-Cohen calls on us to support and celebrate autistic people in both their disabilities and their talents. Ultimately, The Pattern Seekers isn't just a new theory of human evolution, but a call to reconsider how society treats those who think differently.

The author conveys his feelings of anguish and despair as he watches his son Noah, an autistic child, growing up

Edited by Stephen Shore, author of Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum aims to help people with autism effectively self-advocate in their pursuit of independent, productive, and fulfilling lives. Ask and Tell is unique by being the first book to speak to the twin issues of self-advocacy and disclosure for people with autism and by consisting exclusively including the cover art and the preface by Temple Grandin of contributions by those on the autism spectrum for persons on the spectrum.

Evaluating the lifestyles, struggles, and dehumanization of children with Autism over the years, University of Chicago professor Bruno Bettelheim provides insight on the life of these children from the perspectives of what can and cannot be seen. Focusing on three case histories, The Empty Fortress provides an introduction to the problems and struggles that an autistic child faces during their early years. One of the most popular books in communicating the theory of psychogenesis, Bruno Bettelheim presents both a scientific and personal analysis of autism.

Strange is not a word he should use (it’s not quite politically correct), but sometimes Joel Yanofsky can think of no other way to describe life with his son, Jonah—life with autism. Jonah is “on the spectrum” of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but knowing the correct terminology makes it no easier for Yanofsky to understand his ten-year-old son’s complicated relationship with the world. While his wife, Cynthia, an art therapist, assumed the burden of researching ASD and investigating effective treatments for Jonah, Yanofsky tried other approaches. In this funny and moving account of a year in their life together, he chronicles his struggle to enter his son’s world using the materials he knows best: self-help books, feel-good memoirs, and literary classics ranging from the Old Testament to Dr. Seuss, as well as knock-knock jokes, riddles, and puns—all the wacky routines Yanofsky calls schtick. Told with candour, insight, and compassion, Bad Animals is not only about autism; it’s about the things that make life worth living.