All over the world, autism is a condition that attracts scrutiny and controversy—it is both highly variable and often poorly understood.
In Russia, a society still struggling with inherited Soviet disdain of anything physically or neurologically ‘irregular’, attitudes about the condition are slowly beginning to change. In 2012, Russian media widely cited an estimate that up to 200,000 Russian citizens of varying ages live with autism.
Throughout Soviet history, everything from neurological disorders to visible physical disability was taboo. Mass institutionalisation of children with disabilities was common under the Soviets, for example. Even today many parents of special needs children report pressure from doctors to turn these children over to the state. Soviet ideology required that such children and adults be separated from the community. The consequences of such treatment are still being felt to this day.
