Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The research on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is extensive and growing. Although these conditions are recognized as affecting the entire lifespan, the literature on ASD after childhood is limited and has not been brought together in a single volume in over a decade.

Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders fills this knowledge gap by focusing on needs and difficulties unique to these stages of development. Expert contributors offer cogent reviews of complex issues, from education to employment, leisure activities to illegal behaviors, mental health issues to medical health concerns. The latest findings in key areas, such as psychosocial and residential treatments, social skills programs, epidemiology, the impact of ASD on families, are examined in detail. Throughout the volume, coverage focuses on areas requiring improved models of assessment, updated data, new interventions and increased support services.

Featured topics include:

• Transition from high school to adulthood for adolescents and young adults with ASD.
• Innovative programming to support college students with ASD.
• Romantic relationships, sexuality and ASD.
• Treatment of mental health comorbidities.
• Assessment and treatment planning in adults with ASD.
• The range of outcomes and challenges in middle and later life.

Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders is a must-have reference for a wide range of clinicians and practitioners – as well as researchers and graduate students – in clinical child, school and developmental psychology; child and adolescent psychiatry; social work; rehabilitation medicine/therapy; education and general practice/family medicine. It will also serve as an important resource for parents and caregivers with its focus on translating the current state of knowledge relevant to understanding adolescents and adults with ASD into practical and relevant recommendations on how best to support them.

“The group of authors in this book came together from several countries and states to bring a wealth of information about what is known, what has been done and what has yet to pass. … this book is one that should be adopted by families, practitioners and researchers as well as research foundations. This book expose and open a discussion on pivotal, transitional and turning points of people on the spectrum.” (Oren Shtayermman, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, February, 2017)

“‘Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders’ … gathers the best recent information to guide families coping with this challenge. … For families hoping to ease their autism spectrum disorder child’s transition to adulthood, the book has a chapter outlining how comprehensive assessment of young adults with autism spectrum disordercan help. … book presents evidence for optimism that … better solutions to help children with the disorder grow to adulthood will help them and their families lead satisfying lives.” (Donna Alvarado, Los Altos Town Crier, losaltosonline.com, June, 2016)

“This volume reflects an excellent core goal, to attempt to bridge what is known and what is still needed to be known about how to support and guide later development in persons with ASD, from adolescence through senescence. … The editors and authors of this volume are to be commended; they have grappled well with where things situate.” (Scott J. Hunter, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 60 (8), February, 2015)

"This is an extensive literature review that provides a good understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adolescents and adults. … It is appropriate for clinicians involved in the assessment and treatment of adults and adolescents with ASD. It is also a great source of information for anyone who wants to a better understanding of ASD. … I would recommend it to anyone dealing with adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder.” (Laura Gavanescu, Doody’s Book Reviews, September, 2014)

Fred R. Volkmar, M.D., is the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine. An international authority on Asperger’s disorder and autism, Dr. Volkmar was the primary author of the DSM-IV autism and pervasive developmental disorders section. He has authored several hundred scientific papers and has co-edited numerous books, including Asperger Syndrome, the third edition of The Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, A Practical Guide for Autism: What Every Parent, Family Member, and Teacher Should Know, and Evidence-Based Practices and Treatments for Children with Autism. He has served as Associate Editor of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, of which he is currently Editor-in-Chief.  He is also the Editor of the five volume Encyclopedia of Autism, published by Springer.

Brian Reichow, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is Director of Research at the AJ Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and holds a joint appointment as an Assistant Professor of Community Medicine and Health Care and Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut Health Center. Dr. Reichow is also an Assistant Professor-Adjunct at the Yale Child Study Center, where he completed his Post-Doctoral Training and served on faculty prior to leaving for UConn. He completed his doctoral studies in Special Education at Vanderbilt University, where he received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Dr. Reichow completed his undergraduate training in Elementary Education and Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was a public school teacher for children with autism spectrum disorders for many years with Durham Public Schools. Dr. Reichow’s primary research interest centers around the identification of evidence-based practices and the translation of research-based techniques to clinical and practical applications in everyday settings. Dr. Reichow has also been involved in scale-up efforts with colleagues at the World Health Organization to increase capacity for the identification and management of neurodevelopmental disorders in low-resource settings. Dr. Reichow was the recipient of the 2010 Council for Exceptional Children Division of Research Early Career Publication Award. Drs. Reichow and Volkmar are Editors of Evidence-Based Practices and Treatments for Children with Autism, also published by Springer.

James C. McPartland, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center.  He graduated magna cum laude in Psychology from Harvard University and received a doctoral degree in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington. He completed pre- and post-doctoral clinical fellowships focusing on autism and related disorders at Yale and is a licensed child psychologist and Director of the Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic. He is Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Child Study Center and offers an undergraduate seminar focused on autism spectrum disorders. Dr. McPartland’s program of research investigates the brain bases of neurodevelopmental disabilities to develop biologically-based tools for detection and treatment. His research is supported by NIMH, NARSAD, the Autism Science Foundation, the Waterloo Foundation, Autism Speaks, the Patterson Trust, and the Simons Foundation, and his contributions to the field have been recognized by the University of Washington’s Bolles and Gatzert Child Welfare Fellowships, a Clinical and Translational Sciences Scholar Award from the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, a Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition and a Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Mental Health,the NARSAD Atherton Young Investigator Award, the International Society for Autism Research Young Investigator Award, the Patterson Trust Clinical Research Award, and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Klerman Prize. Dr. McPartland has previously authored 2 books and more than 65 scholarly articles on autism and related topics. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disability and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. He has served on the Executive Committee of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and is the Treasurer of the International Society for Autism Research.