Caldwell Library To Host 'Story of Autism' Author

From Caldwell Public Library: The Caldwell Public Library (268 Bloomfield Ave, Caldwell) will be welcoming Caren Zucker, author of IN A DIFFERENT KEY: The Story of Autism, for a special author event and book signing on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.

More than seven years in the making, IN A DIFFERENT KEY: The Story of Autism by Emmy Award–winning correspondent John Donvan and Peabody and Emmy Award–winning television news producer Caren Zucker offers new insight into some of the seminal moments of the past century: the rise of the disability rights movement, deinstitutionalization, the effort to mainstream those on the spectrum, breakthroughs in neuroscience and our understanding of the mind, and the birth of the neurodiversity movement. Donvan and Zucker, whose own families have been affected by autism, have been on the front lines of reporting on the social, medical, and legal aspects of autism since 1999, even before it became a national topic of conversation.

Their groundbreaking ABC News series, Echoes of Autism, launched in the early 2000s, was the first regular coverage of autism on network television. Their article “Autism’s First Child,” which planted the seed for this book, was a finalist for the 2011 National Magazine Award in Profile Writing. As Donvan and Zucker explain, it is striking to see how ordinary people—so often parents who were merely following an instinct to do right by their children—were at the forefront of creating major social change and a realignment in the priorities of scientific research. Equally fascinating is how, in time, autistic people became full participants, even leaders, in this civil rights movement. IN A DIFFERENT KEY, now in paperback, presents autism as a revealing lens on society’s too gradual, and still-evolving, acceptance and celebration of those who are different.

Susie Arons, Executive Vice President of the REED Academy Board of Directors, will moderate a discussion with the author, with opening remarks made by Barbara Greenwald, Associate Executive Director of The Center for Family Support. "As a human services agency deeply committed to helping those adults with autism lead productive and meaningful lives, we are pleased to be able to deliver opening remarks at the upcoming book signing event and we congratulate authors Caren Zucker and John Donvan on such a fine volume of work. This book could be recommended to our families to help them gain a better understanding of what autism is, where the diagnosis originated, what treatments have been used in the past and what is being said about individuals with autism today," remarked Greenwald.

Seating is limited so please contact the Caldwell Public Library to reserve your seat at 973-226-2837.

Image via Pixabay