The Autisms, written by Mary Coleman and Christopher Gillberg, demonstrates that autism, like mental retardation, is a clinical presentation of numerous different diseases, many with genomic underpinnings. In this ground-breaking work, the authors explain in great detail how to clinically diagnose infants, children, adolescents and adults with autistic behavioral features and their psychiatric and neurological work-ups.This new edition contains several chapters on the associated problems of autism, such as intellectual disability, epilepsy, tics, eating disorders and sleep problems, as well as a chapter on epidemiology that documents the historical increase in autism diagnoses. Several chapters summarize the latest data on neuroanatomy, biochemistry and neuropsychology, while three neurogenomics chapters show evidence suggesting that autism occurs due to genetic errors which cause interruption or misdirection of critical neurodevelopmental circuits in the fetal brain.Completely up-to-date, The Autisms is relevant and necessary reading for researchers and clinicians in neuroscience, neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and psychology.

Part One - Autism as a Spectrum1. Diagnosis of the autisms in infancy2. The clinical course of autism in childhood and adolescence3. Adults with autism4. Asperger syndrome5. Co-morbidities and symptom complexes6. Epidemiology - is autism increasing?7. Timing - When do diseases with autistic features begin?8. Neuroanatomy - which parts of the brain are involved?9. Neuropsychology/cognitive psychology in the autisms10. Autism and epilepsy11. Biochemistry, immunology, endocrinologyPart Two - Autism as a Syndrome12. Clinical subgroups13. Neurogenomics: Genes14. Neurogenomics: Chromosomes15. Neurogenomics: Mitochondrial disorders, environment, epigeneticsPart Three - Treatment and Support16. Educational and behavioral interventions throughout the life span in autism17. Prevention, reversal autism, and medical therapies18. ConclusionAppendix One - Recommended psychiatric/psychological work-up in autism.Appendix Two - Updated neurological work-up for children with autistic featuresGlossaryIndex