Cory Shulman - Böcker

This volume is the outcome of a co-operative scientific workshop between researchers from Israel and North Carolina, USA, entitled "Research Frontiers in Autism: Genetics, Behavior and Intervention, held in Jerusalem, June 28-30, 1999". During this workshop, a group of professionals came together to improve their understanding of the occasional gap that appears between research results in the study of autism and clinical applications in its treatment. Each chapter in this volume includes a discussion of the direct and indirect implications of basic research for intervention.

As the pastPresident ofthe Israel Society forAutism, it gives me great pleasure to c- gratulate Professor Schopler and his colleagues on the publication of their new book concerning the relationship between scientific research and treatment.

This book examines infant and early childhood mental health and the importance of early emotional and social development for later developmental trajectories. It incorporates research and clinical perspectives and brings research findings to bear in evaluating intervention strategies. By incorporating empirical developmental literature that is directly relevant to infant mental health and clinical practice, the book addresses the multiple forces which shape young children’s mental health. These forces include child factors, parental and familial variables, childrearing practices, and environmental influences. In addition, the book explores parent-child relationships, family networks, and social supports as protective factors, as well as risk factors such as poverty, exposure to violence, and substance abuse, which influence and change developmental processes. It shows that, by examining socio-emotional development in a cultural context, human development in the twenty-first century canbe conceptualized through differences, similarities and diversity perspectives, focusing on the rights of every individual child.