Autism Spectrum Disorders. Inclusive Community for the Twenty-First Century

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has received considerable educational, research, medical and mediaattention the past ten years. Yet the condition was first described more than a hundred years ago. Due to thedisorder being confused with childhood schizophrenia, there was a lack of definitive attention by specialeducators, medical professionals and mental health clinicians to advance parameters related to: causes;prevalence; identification and diagnosis; education and treatment. Positively, this confusion changedstarting in the 1980s with the clarification of the differences between these disorders with the 1980publication of the" Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-III). Soon after, the1990 federal legislation "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" recognized the disorder as a disability category eligible for special educationservices. Both of these events lead to an explosion of information related to: finding causes; accurate identification and diagnosis; best educationalpractices; and social, emotional, and behavioral treatments.Even with this explosion in the body of knowledge concerned with this disorder, much more needs to be learned and discovered. The successful useof this body of knowledge requires that accurate information be provided to educators, parents, clinicians, medical professionals, and mental healthprofessionals to counter misinformation that exists among the general public, educators and clinical professionals...