Aspergers Kinder

Vienna 1938: The doctor Hans Asperger describes symptoms in children that he categorizes under the diagnosis "autistic psychopathy." He observed weaknesses in social behavior among his patients. In the same year, the National Socialists took control of Vienna. Asperger would soon be held responsible for the fact that children he deemed "not socially integrable" became victims of "euthanasia" at the Am Spiegelgrund institution. Edith Sheffer, the mother of a child affected by autism, has embarked on a quest to uncover the origins of the diagnosis. She reveals the values that shaped Asperger and the evolution of the diagnosis. Her poignant and impressive book sheds new light on the history of psychiatry during the National Socialist regime and on the Asperger syndrome.