Foreword by Jonathan Shephard Chief Executive, Autism West Midlands
At Autism West Midlands our emphasis is on improving the lives of people with autism and their families. It’s a highly practical approach, relying on a large number of dedicated staff. At the same time, we train and explain: we train our own staff, and we train other organisations including local authorities, GPs, and police forces. In our training we explain what autism is, and we deal with aspects of life with autism: challenging behaviour; sexuality; employment issues; autism and siblings. This book takes explanation to a different level. It is an introduction, principally for the general reader, to the science of autism. Scientific understanding of autism has improved dramatically in the past two decades, but we are only at the start of a long journey. Myths about autism still abound, and there are many unvalidated and sometimes dangerous ideas about autism and how it can be addressed. We passionately believe that timely specialist intervention can bring major improvements in the quality of life of someone with autism, and can improve skills, confidence, social interaction, and in many cases employment prospects. At the same time, we believe that autism is a life-long condition, and that claims of “cure� are giving false hopes. This book charts the developing understanding of autism, from its first identification more than 60 years ago. It deals in detail with the controversial issue of whether autism is increasing. It looks at the influence of the media, which is often deeply unhelpful. And it explains why a rigorous scientific approach is so important: where good science is absent, bad science will fill the gap - and there is too much bad science around. The authors, Neil Walsh and Elisabeth Hurley, both have doctorates in genetics (Neil Walsh) and neuroscience (Elisabeth Hurley). As noted, they are writing for the general reader, rather than for the scientific community, but the book does provide, even for academics, a valuable general introduction to the good and bad science of autism.
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