Rita Jordan is Senior Lecturer in Autism at the University of Birmingham.

"Rita Jordan has produced a valuable book which, whilst ostensibly aimed at practitioners whose job involves working with children and adults who have autism, is written in a style clear enough and deep enough to be indispensable to parents or carers. ...a worthy addition to the growing canon of work striving to explore and understand this challenging developmental disparity." -- British Journal of Special Education

• Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 The Nature and Definition of Autism -- 2 The Importance of Diagnosis in Education and Care -- 3 Autism and Behaviour -- 4 The Biological Bases of Autism -- 5 Psychological Theories on the Nature of Autism -- 6 The Individual with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder -- Appendices -- References -- Index.