A New Book

A new edited volume on autism -- full text available online -- contains valuable perspectives from Iran, Africa, and other places across the globe.

A Comprehensive Book on Autism Spectrum Disorders, edited by Mohammad-Reza Mohammadi

The aim of the book is to serve for clinical, practical, basic and scholarly practices. In twentyfive chapters it covers the most important topics related to Autism Spectrum Disorders in the efficient way and aims to be useful for health professionals in training or clinicians seeking an update. Different people with autism can have very different symptoms. Autism is considered to be a “spectrum” disorder, a group of disorders with similar features. Some people may experience merely mild disturbances, while the others have very serious symptoms. This book is aimed to be used as a textbook for child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training and will serve as a reference for practicing psychologists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, general psychiatrists, pediatricians, child neurologists, nurses, social workers and family physicians. A free access to the full-text electronic version of the book via Intech reading platform at http://www.intechweb.org is a great bonus.

Two chapters are of particular interest to those who follow public policy:

• "The Financial Side of Autism: Private and Public Costs," by Deanna L. Sharpe and Dana L. Baker. "This article reviews what is currently known about the type, amount, and distribution of autism-related financial costs relative to family and society. Estimates of the broad social costs of autism are compared. Components of the financial burden on family members are examined. Current avenues to sharing some of this financial burden with the public and private sector are reviewed. The article concludes with recommendations for future research."
• "Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Criminal Law," Ian Freckelton." This chapter explores issues arising in the criminal law for persons with the Autism Spectrum Disorder that most often arises in criminal law proceedings: Asperger’s disorder, often described as high functioning autism. It does so by analysing recent court decisions in a number of countries and reflecting upon the extent to which expert evidence is enabling courts to evaluate effectively the ramifications of the disorder within the context of determining criminal responsibility and culpability."