Autism As an Executive Disorder [Hardcover]

Autism continues to fascinate researchers because of its debilitating effects and its complex nature and origins. The prevalent theory is that autism is characterized by difficulties in understanding mental concepts, but the contributors to this book present arguments for an alternative theory. Their research points strongly to the idea that autism is primarily a disorder of executive functions , those involved in the control of action and thought. They emphasize the importance of the behavioral rigidity that arises in autism, such as resistance to change and obsession with regularity. The book provides a new and controversial perspective from some of the leading researchers in this field; it will interest psychologists and clinicians working to understand this disabling and baffling condition.

1. Introduction,J. Russell
The Neurobiology of Autism
2. Integrating the neurobiological and neurophysical dimensions of autism,T. Robbins
Impairments in generating behaviour
3. Towards an executive dysfunction account of repetitive behaviour in autism,M. Turner
4. Pretend play in autism: Executive explanations,C. Jarrold
The nature and the uniqueness of the executive deficits in autism
5. Validity tests of the executive dysfunction hypothesis of autism,B. Pennington et al.
6. Components of executive function in autism and other disorders,S. Ozonoff
Agency, self-awareness, and autism
7. Motor-images, self-consciousness, and autism,E. Pacherie
8. How executive disorders can bring about an inadequate theory of mind ,J. Russell

Well worth the price. The first chapter, on the neurobiology of autism, is one of the best sources I've seen for lay readers on what is known or suspected about the basic brain biology of autism. The rest of the book is in the main British neuropsychology, to my milC(