This book looks at how therapies involving animals can be used to help individuals with autism to develop skills, including sensory and social skills, to manage challenging behaviors, and improve quality of life.Whether participating in therapeutic horseback riding, utilizing a trained service dog, visiting a dolphin therapy center, or simply experiencing companion animal therapy, people with autism can reap a multitude of benefits from interaction with furry, feathered, and finned friends. Merope Pavlides relates the success stories of different animal-assisted interventions, as well as noting the challenges of working with particular animal species.

Social interaction among neurotypical people is complex and in many ways illogical. To the person with Asperger Syndrome (AS) it is also woefully unintuitive. In this book, adults with AS discuss social relationships, offer advice and support for others with AS and provide necessary insights into AS perspectives for those working and interacting with them.The contributors evaluate a range of social contexts and relationship aspects, including:online relationships - a worldwide social network based on non-verbal communication; the unwritten rules of neurotypical socialising...

Edward R. Ritvo MD is an internationally recognized medical expert, researcher and pioneer in the field of autism and Asperger's disorder, and co-author of the official diagnostic criteria in the DSM ("Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"). Much of what is known about these disorders today is based on his painstaking research and groundbreaking discoveries. In this book, he shares his forty years' experience and opens his extensive UCLA casebook to the reader. "Understanding the Nature of Autism and Asperger's Disorder" is 'a consultation with Prof. Ritvo' - a thoroughly accessible introduction for professionals, families, spouses and individuals with autism and Asperger's Disorder.

Through her questioning of traditional approaches regarding autism, and with determination and patience, Florica Stone has been able to develop a satisfying and supportive two-way channel of communication with her once non-verbal and solitary autistic son. In Autism - The Eighth Colour of the Rainbow Florica shows how shared meanings can be learnt and expressed between autistic and non-autistic individuals, though they experience radically different perceptions of reality. Through interacting with and listening to her autistic friends and son, she began to understand the autistic learning style and to decipher the various behavioural needs that arise from their particular sensory processing.

A celebration of the talents and insights of children on the autism spectrum, "The Hidden World of Autism" presents a collection of writings and drawings contributed by 20 autistic children.The children's work covers topics that are of primary importance in understanding some of the common experiences that children with autism, and their families, go through. These include life before diagnosis, friendships, relationships, feelings, bullying and the future.