E-Book Overview
Featuring contributions from leading authorities in the clinical and social sciences, this thoroughly revised and updated new edition reflects the most recent progress in the understanding of autism and related conditions, and offers an international perspective on the present state of the discipline. Chapters cover current approaches to definition and diagnosis; prevalence and planning for service delivery; cognitive, genetic, and neurobiological features; and pathophysiological mechanisms. There is a new chapter covering communication issues. Interventions reviewed include the pharmacological, behavioral, and educational, and a thoughtful final chapter addresses the nature of the fundamental social disturbance that characterizes autism.
E-Book Content
This page intentionally left blank Cambridge Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry is an important and growing area of clinical psychiatry. The last decade has seen a rapid expansion of scientific knowledge in this field and has provided a new understanding of the underlying pathology of mental disorders in these age groups. This series is aimed at practitioners and researchers both in child and adolescent mental health services and developmental and clinical neuroscience. Focusing on psychopathology, it highlights those topics where the growth of knowledge has had the greatest impact on clinical practice and on the treatment and understanding of mental illness. Individual volumes benefit both from the international expertise of their contributors and a coherence generated through a uniform style and structure for the series. Each volume provides, first a historical overview and a clear descriptive account of the psychopathology of a specific disorder or group of related disorders. These features then form the basis for a thorough critical review of the etiology, natural history, management, prevention, and impact on later adult adjustment. While each volume is therefore complete in its own right, volumes also relate to each other to create a flexible and collectable series that should appeal to students as well as experienced scientists and practitioners. Editorial board Series editor Professor Ian M. Goodyer University of Cambridge Associate editors Dr Robert N. Goodman Institute of Psychiatry, London Professor Barry Nurcombe The University of Queensland Professor Dr Herman van Engeland Academisch Ziekenhuis Utrecht Professor Fred R. Volkmar Yale Child Study Center Professor Dr Helmut Remschmidt Klinikum der Philipps-Universit¨at, Marburg, Germany Already published in this series: Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents edited by Tony Jaffa and Brett McDermott 0-521-61312-4 paperback Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families second edition edited by Philip Graham 0-52152992-1 paperback Suicide in Children and Adolescents edited by Robert A. King and Alan Apter 0-521-62226-3 paperback Hyperactivity and Attention Disorders of Childhood second edition edited by Seija Sandberg 0-52178961-3 paperback Outcomes in Neurodevelopmental and Genetic Disorders edited by Patricia Howlin 0-521-79721-7 paperback Practical Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology edited by Stan Kutcher 0-521-65542-0 paperback Specific Learning Disabilities and Difficulties in Children and Adolescents: Psychological Assessment and Evaluation edited by Alan and Nadeen Kaufman 0-521-65840-3 paperback Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents edited by Helmut Remschmidt 0-521-77558-2 paperback The Depressed Child and Adolescent second edition edited by Ian M. Goodyer 0-521-79426-9 paperback Schizophrenia in Children and Adolescents edited by Helmut Remschmidt 0-521-79428-5 paperback Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Research, Assessment and Intervention edited by Wendy Silverman and Philip Treffers 0-521-78966-4 paperback Con