The Autistic Spectrum

Lorna Wing introduces many aspects of the autistic spectrum in this introduction to the condition. It's a fairly clinical account of autism, the reassuring voice of a medical professional who knows her facts.

Subtitled "A Guide for Parents and Professionals", this book is an all-round guide that should appeal mainly to parents. You would hope that professionals would already be familiar with these facts. Those professionals that deal with autism daily should know about most of what is in this book already, but it might be useful for teachers, for example, to know this information. The book is divided into two sections, the first describing what autism is and the second part about ways of helping such as therapy, teaching and social services. Lorna Wing begins the first part with a short history, necessarily brief because the condition was only discovered in the 1940s. The chapter on making a diagnosis is also quite short because it's a very inexact science and there aren't many good ways of doing this. There is no blood test or other sort of physical indicator for autism, the only way to diagnose it is through observing behaviour.

Wing excels when she describes the behaviour of autistics, being the mother of an autistic herself. This is the most useful section, covering the different types of autistics and the many and varied behaviours that affect them. Not all autistics show the same symptoms or behaviour traits. That is why we talk about the autistic spectrum rather than just autistics. The language here is clear and easy to understand, and she explains much of the jargon involved.

There are several conditions associated with autistic behaviour, and a chapter is devoted to them. Some of these syndromes are only given a line or two, and one or two that I have heard of have been missed out altogether. It's a useful section and although some of these disorders are rare it can be helpful to be able to rule them out. Far more detail could have been included here however, some of the conditions deserved chapters to themselves and a short paragraph doesn't really tell you much about anything.

In fact a lot of this book suffers from a lack of detail. The author can't always be blamed for this, however, as not enough research has been done into autism by anyone. The subject is a very frustrating one. This is especially true of part two which deals with treatments and education, as well as any other help that may be available. Lorna Wing takes a mere two paragraphs to deal with unorthodox methods of teaching, and she dismisses behaviour modification as not having been evaluated by independent research workers. She mentions TEACCH, but it still doesn't give readers much of a starting point for looking into teaching methods and therapies that will be genuinely helpful.

Health experts on the whole have a habit of being patronising, something they are particularly prone to when they have nothing to say. There is some good advice in here, but most of what Wing writes is a matter of common sense and the obvious. Her style of writing annoyed me, particularly towards the end. She has a habit of introducing chapters by explaining the meaning of the title. For example chapter 17, "The roles of professional workers", begins:


Readers are not too stupid to read chapter headings, and this reader could have used more facts and a little less repetition.

This chapter deals could have been subtitled "The failings of professionals". The author mentions the lack of knowledge about autism that some professionals may be guilty of, although she probably doesn't go far enough. Hopefully any professionals reading this book will be taking a step in the right direction, but this chapter is mostly a warning for parents to be aware that professionals can be very ill-informed about autism. The warning about people who prey on parents' hopes for a cure will be useful.

This book may come across as a little preachy and patronising in parts, but it does have value. It presents a clear overview of autistic spectrum disorders, and introduces the issues in a readable way without too much brain-strain. It would have been nice if she had added more detail. There is a substantial reading list at the end, and it's clear that this book is intended more as a starting point than as a definitive resource by itself. As a first book explaining autism it's a good choice, but it will not satisfy a reader's need to understand the autistic spectrum in more depth.