Recent Developments in Autism Research

Autism is a condition that hits the patient in places that can’t be hidden; in his/her behaviour. It is a condition worn for public scrutiny, blending personal aspects of the patient’s life with his/her social environment. It provides for guilt in patients and for Job-like ponderings in their parents. How do you measure the extent of damage to a patient’s life or that of the parent’s? Present day thinking portrays the problem of autism in the context of a triangle. In this triangle each interconnected vertex alternatively represents the autistic person, pathophysiological theories on causation, and symptoms. This book focuses on certain themes: those physical aspects which make an individual autistic. Although we are willing to entertain both psychological and biological explanations, this book will deal primarily with the biological. Even when these explanations overlap, ultimately, they perform different functions; one biased towards the need to know and the other towards the need to cure.