Though autism is one of the best documented and validated childhood psychiatric syndromes, there remains an enormous gap between theoretical understanding of autism and understanding of it in the practice of daily life. This book aims to go some way towards bridging that gap. In common with visual or auditory impairments, the cause of autism is physical, biological and organic. Likewise, just as people with impaired sight or hearing need education and guidance specific to their needs, people with autism require specialized education and support matched to their particular difficulties. This book, aimed at the medical community and the teaching profession, introduces the medical background to autism and discusses current educational approaches to helping those diagnosed as autistic. The book sets out to inspire as well as to inform those involved with the medical or educational management of people with autism.

In this intelligent and incisive book, Olga Bogdashina explores old and new theories of sensory perception and communication in autism. Drawing on linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, anthropology and quantum mechanics, she looks at how the nature of the senses inform an individual's view of the world, and how language both reflects and constructs that view. Examining the 'whys' and 'hows' of the senses, and the role of language, Olga Bogdashina challenges common perceptions of what it means to be 'normal' and 'abnormal'. In doing so she shows that autism can help to illuminate our understanding of what it means to be human, and of how we develop faculties that shape our cognition, language, and behaviour. In the final chapter, she explores phenomena often associated with the paranormal - including premonitions, telepathy and deja vu - and shows that these can largely be explained in natural terms. This book will appeal to anyone with a personal or professional interest in autism, including students and researchers, clinical practitioners, individuals on the autism spectrum and their families, teachers, speech and occupational therapists, and other professionals.

"Papers presented at the Leuven Conference on Exchange Rates in Multicountry Econometric Models (November 1981)"--P. vii.