She warned that efforts to eradicate autism from the gene pool could put humankind’s future at risk by purging the same qualities that had advanced culture, science, and technological innovation for millennia. The maker of the first stone spear, she observed, was likely a lone autistic at the back of the cave, perseverating over the subtle differences between various types of rocks—not one of the “yakkity yaks” chattering away in the firelight.
