"Autism Spectrum Disorder: Recent Advances" ed. by Michael Fitzgerald

This book will be relevant to all mental health professionals because autism occurs in all the different areas of psychiatry and professionals who will find it helpful will be psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, teachers and all those working with persons with Autism including parents who nowadays are interested in knowing more and more, at a detailed level about their children or adults with autism.


The book starts with a new sub category of Autism Criminal Autistic Psychopathy and school shootings. It focuses on a number of interventions, including speech and language pathology, speech and language assessment instruments, occupational therapy, improving functional language development in autism with natural gestures, communication boards etc as well as helping people with autism using the pictorial support, training of concepts of significant others, theory of mind, social concepts and a conceptual model for empowering families of children with autism cross culturally. It also examines the issue of hyperandrogenism and evidence-based treatments of autism.

In terms of assessment, it focuses on psychological and biological assessment including neurotransmitters systems, structural and functional brain imaging, coping strategies of parents, examines the intertwining of language impairment, specific language impairment and ASD, as well as implicit and spontaneous Theory of Mind reading in ASD.

In terms of aetiology, it focuses on genetic factors, epigenetics, synaptic vesicles, toxicity during neurodevelopment, immune system and sex differences. It also examines the link between social cognitive anatomical and neurophysiologic biomarkers and candidate genes.

Contents
Preface
1 Autism and School Shootings — Overlap of Autism (Asperger's Syndrome) and General Psychopathy
2 Neurotransmitter Systems in Autism Spectrum Disorder
3 Structural and Functional Brain Imaging in Autism Spectrum Disorders
4 Coping Strategies and Parents’ Positive Perceptions of Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorders
5 The Intertwining of Language Impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorders — Highlighting the Need of Long Term Interdisciplinary Collaboration
6 Social Communication and Language Deficits in Parents and Siblings of Children with ASD — A Short Review
7 Implicit and Spontaneous Theory of Mind Reasoning in Autism Spectrum Disorders
8 Speech-Language Pathology in the Assessment and Diagnosis within the Autism Spectrum
9 Occupational Therapy in Autism
10 Autism and Functional Language Development – An Experiment with AAC Intervention
11 A Conceptual Model for Empowering Families in Less Affluent Countries Who Have a Child With Autism
12 Evidence-Based Management and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders
13 Understanding the Importance of the Evaluation and Treatment of Elevated Androgens in Autism Spectrum Disorder
14 ReAttach – The Exciting Development of a Promising Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders
15 Meeting the Communicative Rights of People with Autism — Using Pictorial Supports During Assessment, Intervention and Hospital Care
16 Etiology of Autism the Complexity of Risk Factors in Autism Spectrum Disorder
17 Possible Endophenotypes in the Search for Genetic Risk Factors in Autism Spectrum Disorders