Author Lisa Benaron M.D. kicks-off the hour by providing a detailed and informative look at Autism spectrum disorder.
Our second guest, Journalist Ethan Watters, explains how America categorizes disorders, thereby defining mental illness and health.
About Lisa Benaron MD: The author of Autism, she is a graduate of Yale Medical School and is board certified in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. She is the medical director of Far Northern Regional Center, where she provides evaluations for individuals of all ages suspected of having an ASD.
She is a strong advocate of including the schools in the process of diagnosis. Dr. Benaron served on the advisory committee for the California Department of Developmental Services Best Practice Guidelines for Screening Diagnosis and Assessment of ASDs and is currently on the advisory committee reviewing evidence-based interventions for ASDs.
About Ethan Watters: Ethan Watters is the author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche. Before that he authored Urban Tribes, an examination of the mores of affluent "never marrieds" and coauthored Making Monsters, a groundbreaking indictment of the recovered memory movement.
