Andrew Solomon’s celebrated new study “Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity” examines  parents of exceptional children — from those who are deaf, mentally ill, or physically disabled to the child prodigies who play Bach as toddlers. Solomon interviewed over 300 families to understand the extraordinary challenges of raising children whose talents and deficits make them unique.
 
“Far from the Tree” is a humane and fascinating account of human difference, prejudice, and courage, and raises important cultural and policy questions including: How do medical systems define illness? Do we overmedicalize abnormality? What are the unintended consequences of designating someone “disabled”? How do our current educational and health systems limit or optimize individual opportunities by forcing people into approved diagnostic categories?
 
Books will be available for purchase following this AEI discussion.