Autism New Directions in Research and Education

Autism: New Directions in Research and Education presents the results of research on autism and the experiences of the families of autistic children, as well as the trials and tribulations of a psychologist working with an autistic child. The successes and failures of educational programs are discussed, followed by a detailed and helpful account on the value and limitations of a method of teaching language through simultaneous use of signs and speech. This monograph consists of 25 chapters and opens with an overview of the various behaviors likely to be exhibited by autistic persons, along with the theory of autism. It then considers a person's presentation about stuttering in relation to early infantile autism. An important point emphasized throughout this work is that an autistic child can be helped only if a serious attempt is made to see the world from his point of view, so that the adaptive function of much of his peculiar behavior can be understood in the context of his handicaps. The following chapters explore individual differences in the acquisition of sign language by severely communicatively-impaired children; the autistic child's disturbances of perception, speech, and language; and the nature and relevance of simultaneous communication with autistic children. This book should prove useful to clinicians, researchers, parents, teachers, and students.