This humane, intelligent book reminds me of hearing the autistic author, Donna Williams, tell parents that they need to be their own child’s anthropologist. Autism is defined by social and communication difficulties and by a lack of ‘theory of mind’ — the ability to think oneself into the position of someone else. If you wait for your child to explain how he sees the world, what he finds difficult, or why he’ll only wear purple trousers on a Monday, you’ll wait for ever. Instead, says Williams, observe your child, study evidence as an anthropologist would — as Grinker has tried to do with Isabel. Strip away all culturally-received preconceptions about what a child should be like, and look at what is.

Like every autistic person, Isabel Grinker is not just a collection of symptoms. She’s an individual with unique strengths, talents and problems. In relating his ‘study’ of her to his assessment of how autism is perceived worldwide, her father has performed a valuable service.

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