Autistic Children: A Guide for Parents

by Lorna Wing

Although the underlying causes of early childhood autism are still unknown, recent years have seen much progress made in developing ways of helping autistic children to learn and practice social skills. Now this invaluable guide for parents, educators and physicians shows how an autistic child views his fantasy world and explains his difficulties in perceiving and understanding events around him. Dr. Wing reviews the behavioral and emotional problems which must be expected, and how these may be handled. Dr. Wing also discusses the particular stresses on the autistic child's family, services that can help, the role of parents' organizations, and the outlook for the future. The basic aim of this book is the careful progressive development of the autistic child toward integration in society through individual growth.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Lorna Wing, MD, FRCPsych, (born 7 October 1928) is an English psychiatrist and physician.

As a result of having an autistic daughter, she became involved in researching developmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders. She joined with other parents of autistic children to found the National Autistic Society (NAS) in the United Kingdom in 1962. She currently works part-time as a consultant psychiatrist at the NAS Centre for Social and Communication Disorders at Elliot House.

Wing is the author of many books and academic papers, including Asperger's Syndrome: a Clinical Account, a 1981 academic paper that popularised the research of Hans Asperger and introduced the term "Asperger's syndrome". Although groundbreaking and influential, Wing herself cautioned in her 1981 paper that "It must be pointed out that the people described by the present author all had problems of adjustment or superimposed psychiatric illnesses severe enough to necessitate referral to a psychiatric clinic ... (and) the series described here is probably biased towards those with more severe handicaps."

She lives in Sussex, England.