Autism Spectrum Disorder

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.  

PART I: WHAT IS AUTISM?
Chapter 1Historical Background
Chapter 2Current Concept and Definition
Chapter 3The Fuller Picture: Shared Characteristics
Chapter 4The Fuller Picture: Sources of Diversity
Chapter 5Facts and Figures: Epidemiology and Lifespan Development
PART II: WHAT CAUSES AUTISM?
Chapter 6A Framework for Explaining Autism
Chapter 7Root Causes
Chapter 8Brain Bases
Chapter 9.Proximal Causes 1: Diagnostic Behaviours
Chapter 10.Proximal Causes 2: Additional Shared Characteristics and Major Specifiers
PART III: PRACTICAL ISSUES
Chapter 11.Assessment, Diagnosis and Screening
Chapter 12.Intervention
Chapter 13.Care