The goal of this website is to try to understand the strengths of each major point of view underlying autism research and treatment, and to identify synergies across different perspectives.
These points of view are evident in the many different answers to the following three questions:
What is Autism? How is Autism caused? How can we help?
How you answer any one of these questions shapes how you answer the others.
In this website I will present some of the different answers.
While some people think that their answers are right and others are wrong, I think that each perspective arises from insights and observations that need to be understood. I aim to present an accurate and neutral rendition of each point of view, which can create a respectful foundation for considering evidence, questions and issues.
Understanding the rationale for different points of view is necessary for true inquiry. It may allow appreciation of kernels of insight from unexpected quarters. This spirit of inquiry may lead to constructing more inclusive points of view that are spacious enough to hold many dimensions.
While my goal is to present all points of view accurately and neutrally, I personally know some areas better than others. For this and many other reasons I welcome your input. You can help this inquiry project by offering ways to help render the different point of view more clearly, more accurately, with more nuance, and richer links to sources and citations.
You can also help by respectfully pointing out questions that need to be considered, including questions from one point of view that might enrich or expand the scope of another point of view.
