This book considers the many ways autistic lives have been dominantly storied historically, politically, socially, and culturally. Using a range of transdisciplinary theory, the author develops a theoretically rich approach termed ‘dis/orientation’, which breaks new ground for autism research’s understanding of everyday life, and everyday childhoods. The book uses stories of everyday life to provoke new analyses of what it means to talk about, live with, and become, an autistic child: these stories of schooling and education highlight what is done to autistic bodies, what is done by these bodies, and what becomes between them. This offers a way in to the theoretical work of dis/orientation; a practice and an ethic, that means remaining ever watchful for single orientations towards (and away from) autism and childhood, and the children living those childhoods. This leads to new disciplinary grounds, a reconceptualisation of the terrains of research and practice, not of the disordered and disembodied autistic mind, but of the embodied, lived, and everyday.

There is inherent complexity in a field like early childhood where people and their relationships are at the center of their work; daily practices involve negotiating webs of dynamic relations, shifting contexts, value conflicts, and profoundly diverse family constellations and community and cultural environments. Emphasizing Social Justice and Equity in Leadership for Early Childhood: Taking a Postmodern Turn to Make Complexity Visible expands our conceptions of leadership by drawing on postmodern ontological and epistemological perspectives that value, and make visible, diversities and complex human experiences. Julie Nicholson explores the challenges facing children domestically and globally regarding contemporary social justice and equity; she also provides several frameworks and specific strategies that early childhood educators can draw from in enacting leadership inspired by the ideas presented throughout the book. Richly contextualized vignettes are woven into each chapter to highlight the voices and experiences of courageous early childhood professionals working in very different roles and contexts.

Since the early 1940s, when first identified as childhood psychosis and autistic psychopathy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has continued to burgeon into a major focus of inquiry and interest among researchers, practitioners, and the public alike. With each passing decade, the number of scholarly articles addressing ASD and related disabilities continues to soar. Today, thousands of papers on autism are published annually across various disciplines and journals, making it challenging – if not impossible – to keep pace with, let alone synthesize, all the latest developments. Based on a solid historical foundation of autism theory and research, the International Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders integrates the broad scholarly base of literature with a trenchant analysis of the state of the field in nosology, etiology, assessment, and treatment. Its expert contributors examine recent findings and controversies (e.g., how prevalent autism actually is), along with longstanding topics of interest as well as emerging issues. Coverage includes: A survey of diagnostic criteria and assessment strategies. Genetic, behavioral, biopsychosocial, and cognitive models. Psychiatric disorders in persons with ASD. Theory of mind and facial recognition. Diagnostic instruments for assessing core features and challenging behaviors. Evidence-based psychosocial, pharmacological, and integrative treatments. Interventions specifically for adults with ASD. Training issues for professionals and parents. A review of findings of successful and promising therapies, coupled with guidance on how to distinguish between dubious and effective treatments. The International Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders is an indispensable resource for researchers, professors, graduate students, and allied practitioners in clinical child and school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, education, social work, rehabilitation, pediatric medicine, and developmental psychology.

This book contains the latest findings in a number of research areas, including the effects of dog-assisted therapy on the psychomotor development of children with intellectual disability; the use of weighted blankets and sleep quality in children with autism spectrum disorders; cognitive assessment and rehabilitation for pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis; the use of gait indexes in detecting gait changes in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy; as well as the effect of ankle joint mobilization, functional progressive resistance exercise, and action observation training on range of motion, gait, spasticity, gross motor function, and balance in children with spastic cerebral palsy. The book is intended for people who work with children and adolescents with neurodysfunctions on a daily basis. It will certainly be useful to physiotherapists, medical doctors, psychologists, and all members of interdisciplinary therapeutic teams. The book can also be recommended to all individuals interested in neurorehabilitation, including parents or guardians of children and adolescents with neurodysfunctions.

This handbook explores the key concepts, debates and research areas in the field of autism and education. Contributions come from a wide range of countries and cultures.

This handbook addresses a broad range of topics relating to children’s social behaviors and skills. It examines numerous disorders and problems that are directly affected by excesses and deficits of social skills. The book begins by providing an overview of the history and definition of social skills, citing it as a critical aspect of children’s development. Chapters discuss developmental issues, provide theories of social competence, and assemble proven strategies for promoting the growth of social skills and for treating their deficits. The handbook also reviews a variety of methods for assessing various social competencies, including direct and naturalistic observation, skills checklists, self-reports, and functional behavior analysis. In addition, it provides a comprehensive overview of various training methods, including social learning, parent and peer treatments, self-control methods, social skill group programs, and curricula. Topics featured in the Handbook include: Current research and practical strategies for promoting children’s social and emotional competence in schools. Social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder. Intellectual disabilities and their effect on social skills. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and its effect on the development of social skills in children. Evidence-based methods of dealing with social difficulties in conduct disorder. The Handbook of Social Behavior and Skills in Children is a must-have resource for researchers, graduate students, clinicians, and related therapists and professionals in clinical child and school psychology, pediatrics, social work, developmental psychology, behavioral therapy/rehabilitation, child and adolescent psychiatry, and special education.

The perception of time is crucial for everyday activities from the sleep–wake cycle to playing and appreciating music, verbal communication, to the determination of the value of a particular behavior. With regard to the last point, making decisions is heavily influenced by the duration of the various options, the duration of the expected delays for receiving the options, and the time constraints for making a choice. Recent advances suggest that the brain represents time in a distributed manner and reflects time as a result of temporal changes in network states and/or by the coincidence detection of the phase of different neural populations. Moreover, intrinsic oscillatory properties of neural circuits could determine timed motor responses. This Research Topic, partly an emergence of a Satellite EBBS meeting sponsored by the COST-Action TIMELY, will discuss how time in the physical world is reconstructed, distorted and modified in brain networks by emotion, learning and neuropathology. This Research Topic on Timing contains up-to-date reviews regarding the relationship between time and decision-making with respect to the underlying psychological and physiological mechanisms responsible for anticipation and evaluation processes.

Now in a fully revised and updated second edition, this authoritative text integrates state-of-the-art theory and empirical research on a wide range of child and adolescent disorders. Featuring contributions from leading scholars and clinicians, the volume is notable for its comprehensive coverage of the biological, psychological, and social-contextual determinants of childhood problems. Each chapter focuses on a specific disorder, describing its characteristics, developmental course, and epidemiology; outlining current diagnostic and classification schemes; identifying risk and protective factors; and discussing implications for prevention and treatment. Including a new chapter on adolescent substance use disorders, the second edition has been updated throughout to reflect important advances in the field. Incorporated is emerging knowledge in the areas of neurobiology, genetics, developmental psychology, and emotions, as well as new findings on sex differences in psychopathology and long-term outcomes for children at risk.