Frith was born in a small town in Germany in 1941 in the midst of a world at war. Her father, an expressionist painter, served in World War II and was deeply traumatized by what he saw and experienced. As a young girl, Frith attended a school that traditionally educated young men and rarely young women for university. Curious and unconventional in her thinking and interests, Frith went on to attend university and sampled widely from all the disciplines. Reflecting on her life, Frith noted that many of the most influential experiences that made “me, me had nothing to do with science.” Frith explained that she loved art and beautiful things, for Frith, “everything is intermingled, perhaps reflecting an omnivorous mind.” Perhaps by reaching her arms so wide that Frith was able to challenge conventional wisdom.

Her interest in dyslexia began with a paradox: how are there people who are excellent readers but terrible spellers? Could it be that the way the brain remembers written words is different for reading and writing? Moreover, Frith suspected and eventually proved through imaging and testing that dyslexia was a result of an abnormality in the brain itself.

Her research into autism suggested similar differences in the brain itself. Rather than a product of poor parenting or poor socialization, children with autism had brains that functioned differently. She called this “Theory of Mind.” Tests showed that autistic children lacked the ability to predict behavior but were better at reconstructing physical cause-and-effect sequences. As Frith has explained, many behaviors associated with autism reflect a child’s inability to take into account others’ actions – autistic people have a hard time understanding other people’s mental states. Thus, autism is not about intelligence, but about the brain’s inability to conceive of others lying, deceiving, or attempting to hide information. She also argued that autism was characterized by “weak central coherence.” This is the idea that autistic people are good at noticing small details, but less good at seeing the bigger picture. The unique way autistic people view the world is a consequence of the way the brain processes information. Her work asked questions that distinguished between cognition and behavior.

Key Takeaways: Working in the 1960s, Uta Aurnhammer Frith challenged how scientists understood autism disorder. Before Frith, psychologists had argued that autism was a product of poor parenting. Cold, or what were called "refrigerator parents,” gave rise to children who displayed poor socialization, had restrictive interests, and often repeated anti-social patterns or activities. Frith, drawing on her work with children identified as autistic, argued that rather than a product of nurture, autism was a disorder of cognitive processing, a result of biology rather than environment.
Throughout her career, Frith has advocated for “Slow Science” – “less but better.” And she is an advocate for women in science.