The Autistic Spectrum: Characteristics, Causes and Practical Issues

What are the historical foundations of autism and what precisely is meant by the autistic spectrum? How can we explain behavioral patterns of people with autism, young or old, and what are the major theoretical bases for understanding these? What is the latest thinking regarding diagnosis, and what are the most effective strategies for assessment, education and care for people with autism?

This book charts developments in understanding the nature and causes of autistic spectrum disorders, guiding students through theories at the psychological, neurobiological and ′first cause′ levels to methods of assessment, intervention, education and support.

Jill Boucher is Professor of Developmental Psychology at City University in London.  Initially she trained and worked as a speech and language therapist. Within a few years, however, the need to better understand the brain, and those malfunctions of the brain that cause communication and language impairments, led her to retrain and pursue an academic career as a neuropsychologist. After some years teaching and researching at the University of Warwick, she moved to Sheffield University to supervise an existing vocational course for speech and language therapists. She subsequently played a critical role in developing a multi-disciplinary Department of Human Communication Sciences at Sheffield, where research and practice are equally valued, and mutually beneficial.  The conviction that practitioners and researchers must work collaboratively to improve the lives of people with ASD, and to help families and others who support and provide for them, informs the approach taken in the present book.