Dermot Bowler – författare

Psychological research into autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has increased exponentially in the last two decades. Much of this work has been led by various theorists who claim to have identified processes that hold the key to understanding the condition. As a consequence, newcomers to the field feel that they have to opt for one or more of the competing approaches and to neglect the remainder as being in some way wrong. In fact, the different theoretical perspectives are just that - different points of view on the same phenomenon - each with its own insights to offer. This is not to say that understanding ASD in psychological terms is just a matter of choosing a perspective and that all perspectives are of equal value. Clearly they are not. This book, in addition to providing an outline of what current perspectives have to offer, also provides a framework to help readers to decide which aspects of psychological research into ASD contribute to our understanding of the field and how these can be integrated in a way that enables research to be taken forward.

Many people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are remarkably proficient at remembering how things look and sound, even years after an event. They are also good at rote learning and establishing habits and routines. Some even have encyclopaedic memories. However, all individuals with ASD have difficulty in recalling personal memories and reliving experiences, and less able people may have additional difficulty in memorising facts. This book assembles research on memory in autism to examine why this happens and the effects it has on people's lives. The contributors utilise advances in the understanding of normal memory systems and their breakdown as frameworks for analysing the neuropsychology and neurobiology of memory in autism. The unique patterning of memory functions across the spectrum illuminates difficulties with sense of self, emotion processing, mental time travel, language and learning, providing a window into the nature and causes of autism itself.