""That’s not autism: It’s simply a brainy, introverted boy" <--This is the title.
"How boys communicate and socialize" <--This is one of the subheadings."
As I mentioned, it's entirely possible, if not highly likely, that both the title and the subtitles were chosen by editors at Salon and not by the author himself.
For example: I've rarely been able to write my own headline whenever I've been published. I've also been heavily edited, and occasionally even pigeonholed in a certain direction, by my editors. It depends on the publication, the editor's chosen focus, etc. (Curiously enough, in fact, I didn't even write this link's headline for HN; I submitted this article under a different headline).
"Or...you know...a girl. Who just so happens to have strange interests, be introverted, and struggle socially."
But discussing a particular aspect of masculine behavior that's misunderstood does not necessarily imply that only masculine behavior is at issue, nor does it imply that only boys exhibit such behaviors.
It may well be the case that boys are more often disciplined or misdiagnosed for these issues in classrooms. I don't know. There are any number of reasons why he could have chosen this focus -- and while that focus is a limitation, I am choosing to give him some benefit of the doubt until reading further.
If indeed his focus in the book is purely on boys, then that's a very serious limitation. And it would be a very unfortunate one. I have not read the book, so I cannot say for certain whether his book itself is only about boys. I hope it's not.
As I mentioned, it's entirely possible, if not highly likely, that both the title and the subtitles were chosen by editors at Salon and not by the author himself.
For example: I've rarely been able to write my own headline whenever I've been published. I've also been heavily edited, and occasionally even pigeonholed in a certain direction, by my editors. It depends on the publication, the editor's chosen focus, etc. (Curiously enough, in fact, I didn't even write this link's headline for HN; I submitted this article under a different headline).
"Or...you know...a girl. Who just so happens to have strange interests, be introverted, and struggle socially."
But discussing a particular aspect of masculine behavior that's misunderstood does not necessarily imply that only masculine behavior is at issue, nor does it imply that only boys exhibit such behaviors.
It may well be the case that boys are more often disciplined or misdiagnosed for these issues in classrooms. I don't know. There are any number of reasons why he could have chosen this focus -- and while that focus is a limitation, I am choosing to give him some benefit of the doubt until reading further.
If indeed his focus in the book is purely on boys, then that's a very serious limitation. And it would be a very unfortunate one. I have not read the book, so I cannot say for certain whether his book itself is only about boys. I hope it's not.