Autism - a Developmental Disorder

Autism is a developmental disorder that can be detected in early child age, some of the characteristics are; lack of eyes contact, deficiency of speech, and repetitive body movement. However, certain aspects of autistic behavior begged for a visual approach to language. Many autistic children respond to facial expression, gestures and being touched. Next of Kin shows that the ape experiments that fail are those that forbid human sympathy for their subjects. For Fouts, chimpanzee and human minds are fundamentally alike, so it makes sense to care deeply about one's chimpanzee subjects. What Fouts has learned from chimpanzees is that Descartes was wrong. Other animals do have minds. The reason chimpanzees are should be greater. That argument isn't new, but in Next of Kin, it is based on an unparalleled depth of understanding and on a uniquely personal involvement in the battles over congressional legislation and laboratory management. Roger Fouts recounts the remarkable story of his career teaching chimpanzees the skill of signing. Because Fouts began his career as a novice, his naive enthusiasm for his work was fraught with the jealousy and deceit of other researchers. Fouts love and respect for the chimps he calls family superseded all obstacles including near bankruptcy. Compassion is intertwined with anger as he describes his longtime fight to prevent researchers from using these biological relatives as victims of cruel and inhumane medical and scientific research.

As Fouts explains in this fascinating account, Chimpanzees cannot talk, but chimpanzees can communicate using nonverbal language. In the late 1960s, Washoe, a female chimpanzee, was taught American Sign Language in a groundbreaking study. Fouts was involved with Project Washoe from the beginning, and this account of the experiment and its aftermath reads like a novel. The similarities between humans and chimpanzees, particularly in their behavior and language acquisition is the main behavior being studied, are emphasized and explained in the clear, easy to understand narrative. The evolutionary and genetic bases for these similarities are explored early in the text and are woven through the descriptions of Washoe's continuing acquisition of language. By comparing Washoe's behavior in captivity with both the behavior of wild chimpanzees and with autistic children.

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