Understanding the Nature of Autism and Asperger's Disorder

by Ritvo, Edward R., M.D.; Attwood, Tony

• ISBN13: 9781843108146
• ISBN10: 1843108143
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-15
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Pub

Summary

Edward R. Ritvo MD is an internationally recognized medical expert, researcher and pioneer in the field of autism and Asperger's disorder and co-author of the official diagnostic criteria in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Much of what is known about these disorders today is based on his painstaking research and groundbreaking discoveries. In this book he shares his forty years' experience and opens his extensive UCLA casebook to the reader

Author Biography

Edward R. Ritvo MD is Professor Emeritus at the UCLA School of Medicine in California, USA

Table of Contents

Foreword by Tony Attwood	9	(2)
Acknowledgements	11	(2)
Introduction	13	(4)
Why I'm writing this book	13	(2)
What this book is not	15	(1)
An apology to my readers who have autism or Asperger's disorder	15	(2)
1. Understanding How to Understand a Disease	17	(8)
The medical model of disease	17	(2)
What did the Romans think?	19	(1)
The Dark Ages of child psychiatry — before 1940	20	(1)
Professor Leo Kanner (1894-1981)	20	(3)
Professor Hans Asperger (1906-1980)	23	(2)
2. The Clinical Symptoms: From Severe Autism to Asperger's Disorder	25	(28)
Some general points	25	(3)
Symptoms due to developmental delays	28	(22)
Autism and intelligence	50	(3)
3. The Life Course of Autism and Asperger's Disorder	53	(14)
The life course of severe autism	54	(3)
The life course of mild/high-functioning autism	57	(4)
The life course of Asperger's disorder	61	(6)
4. Searching the Brain for Clues	67	(20)
A model to guide the search for abnormal brain development	68	(2)
Studying brain wave activity	70	(4)
Spinning chairs, movie cameras, and microscopes	74	(4)
Neurotransmitters and "Nervous Mice"	78	(8)
Some concluding comments	86	(1)
5. Searching for Causes	87	(14)
Searching medical histories for possible causes	87	(1)
Our "Rolls Royce" study in Utah	88	(7)
Questions of genetics	95	(6)
6. Supportive Treatments: Which Ones, When, and for Whom	101	(20)
Some general points	101	(3)
Specific supportive programs and support systems	104	(14)
Unproven theories about the causes of autism, and treatments to avoid	118	(3)
7. My Casebook	121	(28)
Children and adults with autism or Asperger's disorder	122	(16)
Autistic parents of autistic children	138	(11)
8. The Importance of Obtaining a Diagnosis	149	(8)
On diagnosis	149	(8)
9. The "Official Diagnostic Criteria"	157	(6)
Diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder	158	(2)
Diagnostic criteria for Asperger's disorder	160	(3)
Epilogue	163	(4)
Suggestions for Gathering Further Information	167	(2)
Index	169