Multiple Autisms

Multiple Autisms PDF Author: Jennifer S. Singh
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452949824
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Is there a gene for autism? Despite a billion-dollar, twenty-year effort to find out—and the more elusive the answer, the greater the search seems to become—no single autism gene has been identified. In Multiple Autisms, Jennifer S. Singh sets out to discover how autism emerged as a genetic disorder and how this affects those who study autism and those who live with it. This is the first sustained analysis of the practices, politics, and meaning of autism genetics from a scientific, cultural, and social perspective. In 2004, when Singh began her research, the prevalence of autism was reported as 1 in 150 children. Ten years later, the number had jumped to 1 in 100, with the disorder five times more common in boys than in girls. Meanwhile the diagnosis changed to “autistic spectrum disorders,” and investigations began to focus more on genomics than genetics, less on single genes than on hundreds of interacting genes. Multiple Autisms charts this shift and its consequences through nine years of ethnographic observations, analysis of scientific and related literatures, and morethan seventy interviews with autism scientists, parents of children with autism, and people on the autism spectrum. The book maps out the social history of parental activism in autism genetics, the scientific optimism about finding a gene for autism and the subsequent failure, and the cost in personal and social terms of viewing and translating autism through a genomic lens. How is genetic information useful to people living with autism? By considering this question alongside the scientific and social issues that autism research raises, Singh’s work shows us the true reach and implications of a genomic gaze.

Multiple Autisms

Multiple Autisms PDF Author: Jennifer S. Singh
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452949824
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323

Get Book Here

Book Description
Is there a gene for autism? Despite a billion-dollar, twenty-year effort to find out—and the more elusive the answer, the greater the search seems to become—no single autism gene has been identified. In Multiple Autisms, Jennifer S. Singh sets out to discover how autism emerged as a genetic disorder and how this affects those who study autism and those who live with it. This is the first sustained analysis of the practices, politics, and meaning of autism genetics from a scientific, cultural, and social perspective. In 2004, when Singh began her research, the prevalence of autism was reported as 1 in 150 children. Ten years later, the number had jumped to 1 in 100, with the disorder five times more common in boys than in girls. Meanwhile the diagnosis changed to “autistic spectrum disorders,” and investigations began to focus more on genomics than genetics, less on single genes than on hundreds of interacting genes. Multiple Autisms charts this shift and its consequences through nine years of ethnographic observations, analysis of scientific and related literatures, and morethan seventy interviews with autism scientists, parents of children with autism, and people on the autism spectrum. The book maps out the social history of parental activism in autism genetics, the scientific optimism about finding a gene for autism and the subsequent failure, and the cost in personal and social terms of viewing and translating autism through a genomic lens. How is genetic information useful to people living with autism? By considering this question alongside the scientific and social issues that autism research raises, Singh’s work shows us the true reach and implications of a genomic gaze.

Towards an Ethic of Autism

Towards an Ethic of Autism PDF Author: Kristien Hens
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
ISBN: 1800642334
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Kristien Hens succeeds in weaving together experiential expertise of both people with autism and their parents, scientific insights and ethics, and does so with great passion and affection for people with autism (with or without mental or other disabilities). In this book she not only asks pertinent questions, but also critically examines established claims that fail to take into account the criticism and experiences of people with autism. Sam Peeters, author of Autistic Gelukkig (Garant, 2018) and Gedurfde vragen (Garant, 2020); blog @ Tistje.com What does it mean to say that someone is autistic? Towards an Ethics of Autism is an exploration of this question and many more. In this thoughtful, wide-ranging book, Kristien Hens examines a number of perspectives on autism, including psychiatric, biological, and philosophical, to consider different ways of thinking about autism, as well as its meanings to those who experience it, those who diagnose it, and those who research it. Hens delves into the history of autism and its roots in the work of Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger to inform a contemporary ethical analysis of the models we use to understand autism today. She explores the various impacts of a diagnosis on autistic people and their families, the relevance of disability studies, the need to include autistic people fully in discussions about (and research on) autism, and the significance of epigenetics to future work on autism. Hens weaves together a variety of perspectives that guide the reader in their own ethical reflections about autism. Rich, accessible, and multi-layered, this is essential reading for philosophers, educational scientists, and psychologists who are interested in philosophical-ethical questions related to autism, but it also has much to offer to teachers, allied health professionals, and autistic people themselves.

The Rise of Autism

The Rise of Autism PDF Author: Ginny Russell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100033502X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429285912, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. This innovative book addresses the question of why increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with autism since the 1990s. Providing an engaging account of competing and widely debated explanations, it investigates how these have led to differing interpretations of the same data. Crucially, the author argues that the increased use of autism diagnosis is due to medicalisation across the life course, whilst holding open the possibility that the rise may also be partly accounted for by modern-day environmental exposures, again, across the life course. A further focus of the book is not on whether autism itself is valid as a diagnostic category, but whether and how it is useful as a diagnostic category, and how the utility of the diagnosis has contributed to the rise. This serves to move beyond the question of whether diagnoses are 'real' or social constructions, and instead asks: who do diagnoses serve to benefit, and at what cost do they come? The book will appeal to clinicians and health professionals, as well as medical researchers, who are interested in a review of the data which demonstrates the rising use of autism as a diagnosis, and an analysis of the reasons why this has occurred. Providing theory through which to interpret the expanding application of the diagnosis and the broadening of autism as a concept, it will also be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, social work, disability studies and childhood studies.

Autism

Autism PDF Author: Mitzi Waltz
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031310152
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
This expanded second edition of Mitzi Waltz’s Autism: A Social and Medical History offers an in-depth examination of how the condition was perceived before it became a separate area of investigation, and how autism has been conceptualised and treated since. As well as strengthening the existing text, Waltz has added material on a number of topics that have received increased attention since the first edition, including the rise of the anti-vaccination movement, the shift towards genetic and genomic research, and the progress of the autism self-advocacy movement. The author examines these issues through the perspective of what they mean for autistic people, clinicians and society, and looks at the challenges still faced by autistic people. Waltz also looks at the increased autism diagnosis among girls and women, and how autism has been represented in traditional media and social media. The book includes information from interviews with key researchers, parents of autistic children and people with autism.

The metamorphosis of autism

The metamorphosis of autism PDF Author: Bonnie Evans
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526110016
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 513

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Book Description
This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book is available as an open access ebook under a CC-BY-NC-ND licence. What is autism and where has it come from? Increased diagnostic rates, the rise of the 'neurodiversity' movement, and growing autism journalism, have recently fuelled autism's fame and controversy. The metamorphosis of autism is the first book to explain our current fascination with autism by linking it to a longer history of childhood development. Drawing from a staggering array of primary sources, Bonnie Evans traces autism back to its origins in the early twentieth century and explains why the idea of autism has always been controversial and why it experienced a 'metamorphosis' in the 1960s and 1970s. Evans takes the reader on a journey of discovery from the ill-managed wards of 'mental deficiency' hospitals, to high-powered debates in the houses of parliament, and beyond. The book will appeal to a wide market of scholars and others interested in autism.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) PDF Author: American Psychiatric Association
Publisher: American Psychiatric Publishing
ISBN: 9781955245180
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Autism and the Environment

Autism and the Environment PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309108810
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) constitute a major public health problem, affecting one in every 150 children and their families. Unfortunately, there is little understanding of the causes of ASD, and, despite their broad societal impact, many people believe that the overall research program for autism is incomplete, particularly as it relates to the role of environmental factors. The Institute of Medicine's Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, in response to a request from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, hosted a workshop called "Autism and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities for Research." The focus was on improving the understanding of the ways in which environmental factors such as chemicals, infectious agents, or physiological or psychological stress can affect the development of the brain. Autism and the Environment documents the concerted effort which brought together the key public and private stakeholders to discuss potential ways to improve the understanding of the ways that environmental factors may affect ASD. The presentations and discussions from the workshop that are described in this book identify a number of promising directions for research on the possible role of different environmental agents in the etiology of autism.

Autism in Translation

Autism in Translation PDF Author: Elizabeth Fein
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319932934
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Autism is a complex phenomenon that is both individual and social. Showing both robust similarities and intriguing differences across cultural contexts, the autism spectrum raises innumerable questions about self, subjectivity, and society in a globalized world. Yet it is often misrepresented as a problem of broken bodies and disordered brains. So, in 2015, a group of interdisciplinary scholars gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for an intellectual experiment: a workshop that joined approaches from psychological anthropology to the South American tradition of Collective Health in order to consider autism within social, historical, and political settings. This book is the product of the ongoing conversation emerging from this event. It contains a series of comparative histories of autism policy in Italy, Brazil, and the United States; focuses on issues of voice, narrative, and representation in autism; and examines how the concept of autism shapes both individual lives and broader social and economic systems. Featuring contributions from: Michael Bakan Benilton Bezerra Pamela Block M. Ariel Cascio Jurandir Freire Costa Bárbara Costa Andrada Cassandra Evans Elizabeth Fein Clara Feldman Roy Richard Grinker Rossano Lima Francisco Ortega Dawn Prince-Hughes Clarice Rios Laura Sterponi Thomas S. Weisner Enrico Valtellina

Tracing Autism

Tracing Autism PDF Author: Des Fitzgerald
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295741929
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
In Tracing Autism, Des Fitzgerald offers an up-close account of the search for a neurological explanation of autism. As autism has gained cultural prominence with more diagnoses and more controversy, its biological causes remain elusive. Through in-depth interviews with neuroscientists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, Fitzgerald examines what it means to do scientific research in the ambiguous terrain of autism research, a field marked by shifting horizons of uncertainty and ambivalence. He draws out how autism scientists talk and feel their way through their research, demonstrating its profoundly affective character, and expanding our understanding of what is at stake in the new brain sciences.

Mental Disorders and Disabilities Among Low-Income Children

Mental Disorders and Disabilities Among Low-Income Children PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309376882
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
Children living in poverty are more likely to have mental health problems, and their conditions are more likely to be severe. Of the approximately 1.3 million children who were recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits in 2013, about 50% were disabled primarily due to a mental disorder. An increase in the number of children who are recipients of SSI benefits due to mental disorders has been observed through several decades of the program beginning in 1985 and continuing through 2010. Nevertheless, less than 1% of children in the United States are recipients of SSI disability benefits for a mental disorder. At the request of the Social Security Administration, Mental Disorders and Disability Among Low-Income Children compares national trends in the number of children with mental disorders with the trends in the number of children receiving benefits from the SSI program, and describes the possible factors that may contribute to any differences between the two groups. This report provides an overview of the current status of the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, and the levels of impairment in the U.S. population under age 18. The report focuses on 6 mental disorders, chosen due to their prevalence and the severity of disability attributed to those disorders within the SSI disability program: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, learning disabilities, and mood disorders. While this report is not a comprehensive discussion of these disorders, Mental Disorders and Disability Among Low-Income Children provides the best currently available information regarding demographics, diagnosis, treatment, and expectations for the disorder time course - both the natural course and under treatment.