The Neuropsychology of Autism provides an up-to-date summary on the neuropsychology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), written by leaders in the field. It summarizes current knowledge about neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, genetics, and clinical presentations and provides helpful discussions on key functions such as language, memory, attention, executive functions, social cognition, motor and sensory functioning.

Autism is no longer considered a rare disease, and the Center for Disease Control now estimates that upwards of 730,000 children in the US struggle with this isolating brain disorder. New research is leading to greater understanding of and ability to treat the disorder at an earlier age. It is hoped that further genetic and imaging studies will lead to biologically based diagnostic techniques that could help speed detection and allow early, more effective intervention. Edited by two leaders in the field, this volume offers a current survey and synthesis of the most important findings of the neuroscience behind autism of the past 20 years. With chapters authored by experts in each topic, the volume explores etiology, neuropathology, imaging, and pathways/models. Offering a broad background of ASDs with a unique focus on neurobiology, the volume offers more than the others on the market with a strictly clinical focus or a single authored perspective that fails to offer expert, comprehensive coverage. Researchers and graduate students alike with an interest in developmental disorders and autism will benefit, as will autism specialists across psychology and medicine looking to expand their expertise. Uniquely explores ASDs from a neurobiological angle, looking to uncover the molecular/cellular basis rather than to merely catalog the commonly used behavioral interventions Comprehensive coverage synthesizes widely dispersed research, serving as one-stop shopping for neurodevelopmental disorder researchers and autism specialists Edited work with chapters authored by leaders in the field around the globe - the broadest, most expert coverage available

For years, the typical presentation of autism—the developmental delays, the social and linguistic deficits—has been well known. Despite great variation among children with this condition, certain symptoms are considered hallmarks of the disorder. Less understood is why these symptoms come together to construct autism. And as autism rates continue to rise, this information is ever more vital to accurate diagnosis and treatment. Autism and the Brain offers answers by showing a new neuropsychology of the autistic spectrum, reviewing general brain organization, and relating specific regions and structures to specific clinical symptoms. The author identifies deficiencies in areas of the left-hemisphere associated with the self and identity as central to autism. From this primary damage, the brain further reorganizes to compensate, explaining the diverse behaviors among low- and high-functioning individuals as well as autistic savants. The result is a unique three-dimensional view of brain structure, function, and pathology, with in-depth focus on how the autistic brain: Perceives the world. Understands and uses words. Perceives faces. Understands spatial relations and numbers. Understands feelings and registers emotions. Perceives the self as separate from others. Acts in the world. Challenging readers to re-think their assumptions, Autism and the Brain is breakthrough reading for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in fields as varied as child and adolescent psychiatry; clinical child, school, and developmental psychology; neuroscience/neurobiology; special education and educational psychology; social work; communication disorders; and public health and policy.

Many people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are remarkably proficient at remembering how things look and sound, even years after an event. They are also good at rote learning and establishing habits and routines. Some even have encyclopaedic memories. However, all individuals with ASD have difficulty in recalling personal memories and reliving experiences, and less able people may have additional difficulty in memorising facts. This book assembles research on memory in autism to examine why this happens and the effects it has on people's lives. The contributors utilise advances in the understanding of normal memory systems and their breakdown as frameworks for analysing the neuropsychology and neurobiology of memory in autism. The unique patterning of memory functions across the spectrum illuminates difficulties with sense of self, emotion processing, mental time travel, language and learning, providing a window into the nature and causes of autism itself.

The fields of autism and the fields of neuropsychology have grown tremendously in the past 40 years. This comprehensive volume draws together what is known about the neuropsychology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) from leaders in the field. It introduces the basics of clinical presentation, genetics, neurochemistry, and neuroanatomy in ASD, as well as a review of overarching neuropsychological theories. The book then presents detailed and up-to-date reviews of key neuropsychological functions, including language, memory, attention, social cognition, and sensory and motor functions. The final section of the book presents leading and novel theories about the full syndrome, and concludes with a summary of advances in the field and a blueprint for the next stage of research.

The volume covers several perspectives on autism which bring together the most recent scientific views of the nature of this disorder. A number of themes organize major developments and emerging areas in autism. The book is essential for reseachers and practitioners who require a state-of-the-art resource on autism.

This handbook details best practices and discusses ongoing challenges in assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Chapters address assessment and diagnostic protocols, developmental considerations in ASD assessment, and issues concerning comorbid psychological and medical conditions. Various aspects of the disorder are emphasized throughout the handbook - from assessment in adolescent and adult populations to the latest findings in neuropsychology. The book concludes with future directions for research and clinical applications, focusing on universal screening, improved assessment methods, and earlier and more accurate diagnosis. Topics featured in this handbook include: Types of ASD assessment. Report writing for ASD evaluations. Stress and satisfaction in the diagnostic process. Clinical and neuropsychological perspectives from comorbid diagnosis of ASD and ADHD. Executive functions in ASD. The Handbook of Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is an essential reference for researchers, clinicians, professionals, and graduate students in clinical child and school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, and social work as well as rehabilitation medicine/therapy, behavioral therapy, pediatrics, and educational psychology.

Division TEACCH, located in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was one of the first programs in the country to understand that autism was an organic rather than a biologic condition. We were also one of the earliest programs to recognize the enormous variability in characteristics and behaviors of children described as autistic. For these reasons, the processes of diagnosis and assessment have always been important and central to our program. We are therefore extremely pleased to have a volume representing the most current thinking of the field's leaders in these important areas. As with the preceding books in our series, Current Issues in Autism, this volume is based on one of the annual TEACCH conferences held in Chapel Hill each May. The books are not simply published proceedings of the conference papers, however. Rather, conference participants are asked to develop a full chapter around their presentations. Other international experts whose work is beyond the scope of the conference, but related to the major theme, are asked to contribute chapters as well. These volumes are designed to provide the most current knowledge in research and professional practice available on the most important issues defining and clarifying autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, social communication, and repetitive or stereotyped interests (APA, 2013). The hallmark deficits present in children with ASD are difficulties in social interaction and reciprocation (Troyb, Knoch, & Barton, 2011). Social deficits in children with ASD include difficulty creating social relationships, initiating social interactions, emotional reciprocity, sharing enjoyment, perspective taking, and inferring interests of others (Bellini, Peters, Benner, & Hopf, 2007; Troyb, Knoch, & Barton, 2011). Research has indicated that children with ASD have fewer reciprocal friendships as compared to their typically developing peers overall (Rotheram-Fuller, Kasari, Chamberlain, & Locke, 2010) and are mostly peripheral or isolated from their classroom social networks as opposed to their typical peers (Kasari, Rotheram-Fuller, Locke, & Gulsrud, 2012). While numerous interventions have been proposed to remediate these social difficulties, and there has been a plethora of research with regard to the efficacy and effectiveness of social interventions, few studies have investigated the underlying neuropsychological components associated with these difficulties. The executive function theory posits that the deficits present in ASD are a reflection of an impairment of higher order cognitive skills, such as those needed to plan and generate goal directed behavior. This theory suggests that deficits in higher order skills, such as working memory, planning, inhibition, set-shifting, and monitoring underlie the various deficits seen in the everyday functioning of people with ASD (Minshew, Webb, Williams, & Dawson, 2006). Executive deficits have been widely noted, albeit inconsistently, throughout the literature (Hill, 2004; Joseph & Tager-Flusberg, 2004; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996); however, there is a paucity of research investigating the relationship between executive functions and social skills in children with ASD. The research thus far has been quite inconsistent with some studies failing to find any relationship between executive and social skills (Ozonoff et al., 2004; Landa & Goldberg, 2005) and others finding that some measures of executive functioning are related to social and/or adaptive skills (Gilotty, Kenworthy, Sirian, Black, & Wagner, 2002; Kenworthy, Black, Harrison, Della Rosa, & Wallace, 2009). The current study sought to investigate the relationship between executive deficits and social skills among a group of children with ASD. A total of 23 children with ASD who were included in the regular education classroom, age 5 to 12 years old, were administered a battery of performance-based neuropsychological tests to measure shifting, inhibition, and working memory skills. The Behavior Rating of Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) teacher report questionnaire was used to measure the student's executive functions in everyday settings. Social skills were measured with a playground observation and a Friendship Survey that was administered to children with ASD and their peers to capture their social connectedness in the classroom. Results indicated that children with ASD demonstrated impaired performance on performance-based measures of shifting, inhibition, and inhibition-switching. Performance-based measures of working memory skills were in the average range for the children's age. Children demonstrated impairments on several BRIEF clinical scales including Shift, Initiate, Working Memory, and Monitor. The only performance-based measures that were significantly related to social functioning were inhibition and inhibition-switching. Children with better inhibition skills nominated more peers as friends; however, children with better inhibition-switching skills spent more time in solitary play on the playground. Overall, ratings-based measures of executive functioning were more related to social skills. A number of metacognitive skills including initiation, working memory, and planning and organization were significantly related to a greater proportion of playground time spent jointly engaged as well as fewer rejections by their peers. No relationships were found between executive functions and measures of overall social connectedness in the classroom. This indicates that executive skills (as measured by teacher-report) are extremely important with regard to peer interaction on the playground and well as peer acceptance. As a result, social interventions may need to directly target these skills in an effort to increase social engagement and acceptance. This study, however, failed to find a relationship between executive skills and overall social connectedness in the classroom. Given that as the child ages he/she will spend increasingly less time in the playground environment, it is essential that future research investigate the underlying skills necessary to make and maintain friendships.

Based on Francesca Happé’s best-selling textbook, Autism: An Introduction to Psychological Theory, this completely new edition provides a concise overview of contemporary psychological theories about autism. Fletcher-Watson and Happé explore the relationship between theories of autism at psychological (cognitive), biological and behavioural levels, and consider their clinical and educational impact. The authors summarise what is known about the biology and behavioural features of autism, and provide concise but comprehensive accounts of all influential psychological models including ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM) models, early social development models and alternative information processing models such as ‘weak central coherence’ theory. The book also discusses more recent attempts to understand autism, including the ‘Double Empathy Problem’ and Bayesian theories. In each case, the authors describe the theory, review the evidence and provide critical analysis of its value and impact. Recognising the multiplicity of theoretical views, and rapidly changing nature of autism research, each chapter considers current debates and major questions that remain for the future. Importantly, the book includes the voices of autistic people, including parents and practitioners, who were asked to provide commentaries on each chapter, helping to contextualise theory and research evidence with accounts of real-life experience. The book embraces neurodiversity whilst recognising the real needs of autistic people and their families. Thus Autism: A New Introduction to Psychological Theory and Current Debate provides the reader with a critical overview of psychological theory but also embeds this within community perspectives, making it a relevant and progressive contribution to understanding autism, and essential reading for students and practitioners across educational, clinical and social settings.