Send in the Idiots Stories from the Other Side of Autism

In 1982, when he was four years old, Kamran Nazeer was enrolled in a special school alongside a dozen other children diagnosed with autism. Calling themselves the Idiots, these kids received care that was at the cutting edge of developmental psychology. Now a policy adviser in England, Kamran decides to visit four of his old classmates to find out the kind of lives that they are living now, how much they've been able to overcomeand what remains missing. Bringing to life the texture of autistic lives and the limitations that the condition presents, Nazeer also relates the ways in which those can be eased over time, and with the right treatment.Using his own experiences to examine such topics as the difficulties of language, conversation as performance, and the politics of civility,Send in the Idiotsis also a rare and provocative exploration of the way that peopleall peoplelearn to think and feel. Written with unmatched insight and striking personal testimony, Kamran Nazeer's account is a stunning, invaluable, and utterly unique contribution to the literature of what makes us human. Kamran Nazeerwas born of itinerant Pakistani parents and has lived in New York, Jeddah, Islamabad, and Glasgow. He studied law but decided not to become a lawyer. By the time he completed his Ph.D. thesis, he had decided not to become an academic. On leaving Cambridge, he was recruited into Her Majesty's Service and works as a policy adviser in Whitehall. He has published work in U.K. newspapers and magazines. When he was four years old, Kamran Nazeer was enrolled in a small New York City school alongside a dozen other children diagnosed with autism. Calling themselves "the Idiots," these kids received care that was at the cutting edge of developmental psychology. Two decades later, Nazeer undertook a mission to try and reconnect with four of his schoolmates. He wanted to understand what it meant to grow up with autismto see the many obstacles his classmates had cleared, and to understand the ones they couldn't. A speechwriter unable to make eye contact; a messenger who gets upset if anyone touches his bicycle; a musically gifted but depressive pianist; and a computer engineer who communicates difficult emotions through the use of hand puppetsthese four classmates reveal an astonishing, through-provoking spectrum of behavior. Like all of us, each of them has his or her own set of fears and obsession, hopes and triumphs.Send in the Idiotsis the candid, surprising, and moving tale of their lives. Using his own experiences to examine such topics as the difficulties of language, conversation as performance, and the politics of civility, Nazeer also gives us a rare and provocative exploration of the way that peopleall peoplelearn to think and feel. "This is a brilliant look inside a world of outsidersa story not just of autistic children and their fate in the world, but of how all of us grow, grow apart, and sometimes even find out own way in the long journey from childhood to adulthood."Paul Collins, author ofSixpence HouseandNot Even Wrong "The way certain portraits appear to be lit from within, this book has an inner radiance that is exhilarating. Kamran Nazeer is both witness and guide and adept at either role. I read to the end and began again at the beginning in order not to leave his company."Alec Wilkinson "Nazeer, a successful British government policy adviser, was diagnosed early on with autism; he now seeks out the fate of four autistic classmates at his former New York City school. He first encountered the 'idiots' (as one of them called the group) more than 20 years ag

Kamran Nazeer grew up in New York, Jeddah, Islamabad, and Glasgow. He has a PhD in Legal Philosophy from Oxford and currently works as a Policy Advisor for the British government. He has published work in U.K. newspapers and magazines.

"[A] touching book...these words...may in themselves ease the agony of parents and grandparents who have seen their children inexplicably skid away into a place where they seem untouchable, locked into an inscrutable world of their own."—Washington Post Book World
                                                                                                            
“[An] innovative examination of autism...[Nazeer's] memorable writing style, humorous but stripped of all subjectivity, is superbly adapted to convey something of an autistic's world view."—New Yorker
 
“It's a question that everyone has asked themselves: What happened to those kids I knew in grade school?  But when those kids were in an autism classroom, it's a question you never expect to get answered...until now.  This is a brilliant look inside a world of outsiders—a story not just of autistic children and their fate in the world, but of how all of us grow, grow apart, and sometimes even find our own way in the long journey from childhood to adulthood.â€�—Paul Collins, author of Sixpence House and Not Even Wrong