Asperger's Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna

A little more dry and dense than I was expecting. I wish it had been an easier read, because it contains a lot of important information!

Highly recommend reading this book if you want to know about the history of autism and how Nazi eugenicists like Hans Asperger pioneered the research of autism psychopathy and keeping the ‘high-functioning' autistics alive while sending the ‘low-functioning' autistics to their death in concentration camps. I also want to note that this book does an excellent work of introducing the shifts of research in autism and how it manifests in boys versus girls. If you want to learn more about eugenics pertaining to neurodivergent folks, I recommend you read this at least once in your lifetime. While this book mainly discusses autism, the author also talks briefly about how ADHD came to be in the DSM manual.

Updated review:
This book has single-handedly encouraged me to learn more about the history of autism in Nazi Germany and gain more insights of historical autism research. It's appalling to read about the war crimes committed by members of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich, not to mention the millions of lives lost due to the Second World War. I'm glad my mom gave me this book so that I can read it and now thanks to this book, I'm conducting research about autism and friendships.