This comprehensive and much-needed guide addresses the issues faced by clinicians in assessing and treating the range of mental health conditions, which can affect adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Its particular focus on adults fills a notable gap in the ASD professional literature, with an extensive array of contributors from across the psychology and healthcare professions. Covering a wide variety of common co-occurring mental health conditions including mood disorders, anxiety, psychosis, OCD, personality disorders, and eating disorders, this guide also explores broader issues to do with promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. Authoritative and detailed, this is an essential resource for all clinicians and professionals looking to understand and tailor their approach to mental health in autistic adults, and the need for specific methods and strategies to enhance assessment and treatment.

In this book a group of international experts guide the reader through the clinical features of adults with autism spectrum disorders, describe the care needs of patients and their families, explain the evolution of the disorders into old age, and highlight what can be done to help. Detailed attention is paid to the medical and psychiatric problems of adults with these disorders and the approach to their education and professional integration. In addition, expert neuroscientists summarize current views on the neurobiology of autism. Autism spectrum disorders are devastating neurodevelopmental disorders. Although diagnosis and therapeutic interventions usually take place in infancy, they are chronic lifelong conditions. Surprisingly, the literature on autism spectrum disorders in adults is scarce. Moreover, most mental health professionals working with adults have little training in autism, and adult mental health services around the world are rarely prepared to address the needs of these patients, which tend to increase with age. This book therefore fills a crucial gap in the literature and will prove useful for all who care for and deal with adults in the Autistic Spectrum.

This book addresses the specific mental health needs of girls and young women with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Looking at the ways autism presents differently in girls than in boys, and the mental health conditions that occur most frequently in girls with ASD, this is the essential guide for clinicians and educators on tailoring interventions and support to meet girls' needs. Describing the current assessment process for autism diagnosis, the book explains why girls are under- or mis-diagnosed, leading to later mental health issues. It outlines the types of intervention that are particularly helpful for working with girls to reduce anxiety, improve social interaction skills, and manage self-harm. The book also covers how to manage eating disorders and feeding difficulties, focusing on working with girls with sensory processing difficulties. There is advice on how to deal with the emotional impact on parents, carers and families, and the challenges they face when negotiating appropriate psychological and educational support.

This book provides background on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and decision points to clarify when a clinician has the requisite skills to help and when a referral is needed.

Revision of: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult Asperger syndrome. c2007.

This step-by-step manual explains how to adapt CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) approaches to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) for autistic children and adults. It outlines why there is the need to adapt treatment for the autistic population, and includes detailed guidance on each phase of the approach. It explains assessment of OCD in autism, the links between the two conditions and difficulties in identifying aspects of OCD in autistic people. The book offers advice on dealing with difficult issues and on the next steps after treatment is complete. Accompanying worksheets and handouts are available to download.

Clinical Psychology, Third Edition offers an introduction to clinical psychology as it is operating on the ground – delivering clinical interventions, supervision, consultation, leadership, training and research, in rapidly changing health and care services. This new edition of Clinical Psychology brings together practitioners, researchers, and people who have used the services of clinical psychologists to explain how clinical psychologists work, the evidence that their work is based on, and how it can change peoples’ lives for the better. The book explains the core principles of clinical practice, as well as outlining the role of a clinical psychologist within a healthcare team. It covers issues involved in working with children and families, adult mental health problems, people with disabilities and physical health issues, and the use of neuropsychology. In this fully revised third edition, every chapter has been brought up to date with developments in research and practice, and chapters have been added regarding the important fields of working with autistic people and working with people in forensic mental health services. Given the popularity of clinical psychology for many undergraduate and graduate students, the contents of this text have been designed around teaching and learning features that can be used as the basis for an intermediate or advanced-level course that will allow students to learn both breadth and depth about clinical psychology.

The number of children diagnosed with autism has increased dramatically in the last decade, and a growing number of behavior analysts, psychologists, educators, and speech pathologists-to name a few-are just starting to regularly treat individuals with autism. Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) require specialized instruction and behavior support to teach them critical skills and establish a meaningful quality of life. However, these objectives can only be achieved if professional and paraprofessional service providers have access to the most effective evidence-based and empirically supported methods for teaching children with autism. Similarly, practitioners must know about effective intervention methods that can be implemented to reduce and eliminate problem behaviors frequently displayed by people who have ASD. This guide is an indispensible asset, appropriate for any behavioral specialist, on all aspects of this increasingly prevalent disorder. Teaching and Behavior Support for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder brings together contributed chapters on assessment, instruction, and behavioral intervention procedures unique to the autism population. Each chapter covers a single topic according to a uniform format, which will ease comprehension and facilitate procedural adaptation in "real world" settings such as school, home, and the community. Usable advice and methods for teaching difficult skills, such as self-care, verbal language, and communication, are provided. Authored by recognized experts, the concise and readable chapters also feature forms, illustrations, summary tables, and resource lists to further guide practitioners in selecting "best practice" methods. Taking into account specific settings, different age groups, and practitioner experience, this book will serve as a resource for educators, psychologists, and behavior specialists in the field of autism education and treatment, and as an educational tool for those enrolled in university classes training to become practitioners.

"Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is estimated at one in 54 people (Maenner et al., 2020). Of people diagnosed with ASD in childhood, 85% continue to meet diagnostic criteria as adults (Billstedt et al., 2005). As with most neurodevelopmental disorders, ASD has historically been primarily studied as a disorder of childhood. However, this tide is changing. An estimated 50,000 adolescents with ASD age into adulthood every year (Shattuck et al., 2012). At this rate, we can expect upward of a half-million more adults with ASD every decade. This reality is inconsistent with the current research focus; only 2% of all ASD-related research focuses on adult outcomes (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017)"--

The second edition of Managing Clinical Risk is an authoritative guide on how to engage in risk assessment and management practice in evidence-based, accountable and effective ways. Over the course of a dozen chapters, each oriented around a brief case study reflecting a different area of risk, practitioners are offered guidance on how to read referrals, how to decide what information matters to their evaluations, how to speak to a person who may be reluctant to engage in an assessment of this kind, how to organise the information they have gathered in order to prepare a risk formulation that will in turn guide risk management, and how to communicate opinions and recommendations in ways that have an impact. The book provides an evidence-based understanding of risk assessment and management in key areas of practice – violence, sexual violence, suicidal and self-harmful behaviour, as well as family and relationship violence, organised criminal and group-based violence, and violent extremism. Practices relevant to understanding violent behaviour in individuals are contrasted with those better suited for working with groups and organisations. How practitioners can take account of the diversity of the clients with whom they work is a central consideration in every chapter. And helping practitioners develop the skills to enable them to formulate risk where there may be multiple areas of concern is a key objective of this book. All the contributors to this updated guide to effective practice are scholar-practitioners – experienced professionals with a track record of writing and teaching about risk assessment and management practice in their respective fields. Therefore, this book contains realistic rather than idealistic representations of the work required to prevent harmful behaviour by the kinds of clients they work with. Together, contributors combine theoretical and research knowledge with a wealth of practical skills, emphasising the collaborative and recovery-focused nature of modern risk management.