Much of the public discussion about autism has missed the point about the possible causes. To solve this question, two writers began digging into the history of other degenerative neurological disorders. Their research led them to discover incredible and previously unacknowledged links between a strain of syphilis which left suffers raving mad, the spike in incidence of schizophrenia during the Industrial Revolution, and the hidden commonalities between the parents of the first children diagnosed with autism in the 1930s.

The Age of Autism connects these dots to form a startling new thesis: behind each of these disorders - and many more - was exposure to mercury, the most toxic non-radioactive substance known to man.