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Autism: A New Introduction to Psychological Theory and Current Debate
Based on Francesca Happé’s best-selling textbook, An Introduction to Psychological Theory, this completely new edition provides a concise overview of contemporary psychological theories about autism. Fletcher-Watson and Happé explore the relationship between theories of autism at psychological (cognitive), biological and behavioural levels, and consider their clinical and educational impact.
The authors summarise what is known about the biology and behavioural features of autism, and provide concise but comprehensive accounts of all influential psychological models including ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM) models, early social development models and alternative information processing models such as ‘weak central coherence’ theory. The book also discusses more recent attempts to understand autism, including the ‘Double Empathy Problem’ and Bayesian theories. In each case, the authors describe the theory, review the evidence and provide critical analysis of its value and impact. Recognising the multiplicity of theoretical views, and rapidly changing nature of autism research, each chapter considers current debates and major questions that remain for the future.
Importantly, the book includes the voices of autistic people, including parents and practitioners, who were asked to provide commentaries on each chapter, helping to contextualise theory and research evidence with accounts of real-life experience. The book embraces neurodiversity whilst recognising the real needs of autistic people and their families. Thus A New Introduction to Psychological Theory and Current Debate provides the reader with a critical overview of psychological theory but also embeds this within community perspectives, making it a relevant and progressive contribution to understanding autism, and essential reading for students and practitioners across educational, clinical and social settings.
The authors summarise what is known about the biology and behavioural features of autism, and provide concise but comprehensive accounts of all influential psychological models including ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM) models, early social development models and alternative information processing models such as ‘weak central coherence’ theory. The book also discusses more recent attempts to understand autism, including the ‘Double Empathy Problem’ and Bayesian theories. In each case, the authors describe the theory, review the evidence and provide critical analysis of its value and impact. Recognising the multiplicity of theoretical views, and rapidly changing nature of autism research, each chapter considers current debates and major questions that remain for the future.
Importantly, the book includes the voices of autistic people, including parents and practitioners, who were asked to provide commentaries on each chapter, helping to contextualise theory and research evidence with accounts of real-life experience. The book embraces neurodiversity whilst recognising the real needs of autistic people and their families. Thus A New Introduction to Psychological Theory and Current Debate provides the reader with a critical overview of psychological theory but also embeds this within community perspectives, making it a relevant and progressive contribution to understanding autism, and essential reading for students and practitioners across educational, clinical and social settings.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 24, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 12, 2019
This is an excellent book on Autism, but it is a pretty technical read and thus might be primarily for professionals. However, the book does an excellent job of including comments from individuals influenced by Autism, both through clever graphic novel-like explanations of the concepts and by allowing for a comment by an individual who is neuro-atypical at the end of each section.
March 25, 2019
I have a page in this, so may not be a totally impartial reviewer, but I found it a very accessible and informative book, as well as a model of good practice as far as autistic engagement goes.
October 15, 2022
Pretty cool, trans-inclusive, nice structure, bit heavy on the science
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November 13, 2020much better than you would ever expect of neurotypicals--a critical look at what science thinks it understands about autism. most importantly it includes commentary from actual autists. worth reading if you want to know what They are saying about Us
October 30, 2022
3.5 stars
I appreciated a lot about this brief but dense volume.
Leading autism researchers Happe & Fletcher-Watson give you the skinny on what science knows about autism, and spoiler alert, it's not much. Autism research is still in its infancy, though it has grown exponentially since Happe wrote the first version in 1994. As the authors note, there are still many areas where there are huge deficits in autism research, especially around topics that might help autistic people to live easier lives, such as autism and aging, sensory and communication issues in autism, or how best to adapt interventions for autistic people.
Most autism research is about why our brains/minds are so weird (based on neurotypical standards), and thus that more neurologically/cognitively focused research is what is mainly represented in the book. The book covers history of autism, autism behaviour (which is how autism is currently diagnosed) - and the authors do a good job of covering autistic critiques of current diagnostic models, and then four chapters dealing with different aspects of autism on a cognitive level.
The cognitive chapters go through all of the different theories on why autistic people understand things and behave differently than neurotypical people. Usually in the research these differences have been understood as deficiencies, coming from a neurotypical perspective. For example, lack of eye contact is understood to be non-social, based on the allistic assumption that eye contact is a required part of sociality.
However, there are also places in the research autistic strengths are recognized such as the way that "repetitive and restrictive interests and behaviours" (as they are called diagnostically, usually called stimming and special interests in the autism community) may promote creativity. Higher perceptual capacity may lead to better pattern recognition. "Deficits" in ability to mentalise (understand another's state of mind based on their actions) may in fact lead to less bias in autistic people. Note all the "mays"- all of these research conclusions are pretty preliminary or speculative at this point.
As the authors note, a good question is whether investing so much in understanding autism causality is really that important. If we accept that autism is not a disorder but a normal part of human neurological diversity, the only reason to understand the cognitive or biological mechanisms would be if it helped us better understand how to adapt our world to be more autistic friendly, or helped us understand harmful co-morbidities to autism (like epilepsy or EDS).
The first few chapters were super readable but the cognitive research was more difficult to grapple with for someone outside the field, and peppered with unfamiliar psychological jargon. To be fair, the book is designed for a psychology student level, not necessarily a lay person; however, this was still my biggest issue with it, as it should be made accessible to the folks it is about, (autists) most of whom do not have a psychology background.
Although the authors are allistic (non-autistic) they went to particular effort to include the perspectives and voices of autistic people throughout the book, which I really appreciated. This includes the great illustrations by Marisa Montaldi that summarize each chapter visually. They even included theories from autistic people such as monotropism, the theory that autism is in face defined by atypical allocation of attention. Autistic people have "few interests highly aroused" whereas allistic people have "many interests less highly aroused" (128). This made me really curious about speculations among that autism and ADHD are actually the same condition with different features. Is ADHD "many interests highly aroused" in the monotropism model? (This is purely a question - the book doesn't explore this, and the common condition theory is a matter of great debate within the neurodivergent and scientific community).
Happe & Fletcher-Watson also called upon autism researchers to do more to include autistic people in the direction of autistic research, and to mentor neurodivergent researchers, so that in future autism research can truly be "nothing about us without us."
I appreciated a lot about this brief but dense volume.
Leading autism researchers Happe & Fletcher-Watson give you the skinny on what science knows about autism, and spoiler alert, it's not much. Autism research is still in its infancy, though it has grown exponentially since Happe wrote the first version in 1994. As the authors note, there are still many areas where there are huge deficits in autism research, especially around topics that might help autistic people to live easier lives, such as autism and aging, sensory and communication issues in autism, or how best to adapt interventions for autistic people.
Most autism research is about why our brains/minds are so weird (based on neurotypical standards), and thus that more neurologically/cognitively focused research is what is mainly represented in the book. The book covers history of autism, autism behaviour (which is how autism is currently diagnosed) - and the authors do a good job of covering autistic critiques of current diagnostic models, and then four chapters dealing with different aspects of autism on a cognitive level.
The cognitive chapters go through all of the different theories on why autistic people understand things and behave differently than neurotypical people. Usually in the research these differences have been understood as deficiencies, coming from a neurotypical perspective. For example, lack of eye contact is understood to be non-social, based on the allistic assumption that eye contact is a required part of sociality.
However, there are also places in the research autistic strengths are recognized such as the way that "repetitive and restrictive interests and behaviours" (as they are called diagnostically, usually called stimming and special interests in the autism community) may promote creativity. Higher perceptual capacity may lead to better pattern recognition. "Deficits" in ability to mentalise (understand another's state of mind based on their actions) may in fact lead to less bias in autistic people. Note all the "mays"- all of these research conclusions are pretty preliminary or speculative at this point.
As the authors note, a good question is whether investing so much in understanding autism causality is really that important. If we accept that autism is not a disorder but a normal part of human neurological diversity, the only reason to understand the cognitive or biological mechanisms would be if it helped us better understand how to adapt our world to be more autistic friendly, or helped us understand harmful co-morbidities to autism (like epilepsy or EDS).
The first few chapters were super readable but the cognitive research was more difficult to grapple with for someone outside the field, and peppered with unfamiliar psychological jargon. To be fair, the book is designed for a psychology student level, not necessarily a lay person; however, this was still my biggest issue with it, as it should be made accessible to the folks it is about, (autists) most of whom do not have a psychology background.
Although the authors are allistic (non-autistic) they went to particular effort to include the perspectives and voices of autistic people throughout the book, which I really appreciated. This includes the great illustrations by Marisa Montaldi that summarize each chapter visually. They even included theories from autistic people such as monotropism, the theory that autism is in face defined by atypical allocation of attention. Autistic people have "few interests highly aroused" whereas allistic people have "many interests less highly aroused" (128). This made me really curious about speculations among that autism and ADHD are actually the same condition with different features. Is ADHD "many interests highly aroused" in the monotropism model? (This is purely a question - the book doesn't explore this, and the common condition theory is a matter of great debate within the neurodivergent and scientific community).
Happe & Fletcher-Watson also called upon autism researchers to do more to include autistic people in the direction of autistic research, and to mentor neurodivergent researchers, so that in future autism research can truly be "nothing about us without us."
June 15, 2019
As an academic book, excellent.
A little challenging to read if you're reading as a casual reader.
A little challenging to read if you're reading as a casual reader.
May 4, 2025
I approached Autism: A New Introduction with high hopes — and to be fair, there’s a lot this book gets right. Fletcher-Watson and Happé do a good job summarizing major psychological theories of autism, and they push for greater dignity and understanding toward autistic people, which is absolutely essential. The book is readable, relatively up-to-date, and a helpful introduction for someone unfamiliar with current debates.
That said, the deeper I went, the more I found myself increasingly uneasy with the philosophical and scientific posture the authors adopt.
At multiple points, the book seems to sacrifice nuance in favor of advocacy slogans — and that’s a real problem when the topic is as complex as autism.
One major example:
The authors often treat autistic lived experience as unquestionable authority. For instance, the authors say that researchers' recommendations must “not be allowed to drown out what autistic people themselves tell us directly about their needs.”
Of course autistic voices should be heard — but no experience, autistic or otherwise, is automatically self-validating. Science demands critical analysis of all forms of data, including personal testimony. Otherwise, we risk replacing one kind of dogmatism with another.
Even more troubling is the way the authors frame efforts to reduce the hardships of autism. They claim that: “Aiming to identify a cure or preventative measure for autism itself represents a moral bankruptcy.”
Honestly, that statement feels unfair and irresponsible. Seeking to lessen the suffering of a child who self-injures, cannot speak, or struggles to complete basic tasks isn't “morally bankrupt” — it can be an act of compassion.
There’s a huge ethical difference between wanting to erase autistic people and wanting to help individuals live healthier, happier, more independent lives. The autistic rights voices present here would have you think in absolutes.
In the later sections, the book often romanticizes autism to an extent that feels detached from clinical reality. It warns that early intervention programs might “...deny [autistic children's] right to follow their own autistic learning trajectory.”
But developmentally speaking, all children, autistic or not, depend on adult guidance to flourish. Neglecting to teach adaptive skills — in the name of "authentic learning" or unsubstantiated, uncritical validation — could leave children even more vulnerable to harm and exclusion.
Bottom Line:
Autism: A New Introduction has value, especially in challenging outdated models and encouraging respect for autistic people. But it overcorrects (irresponsibly), elevates ideology over balanced inquiry, and minimizes the real suffering that can accompany more severe forms of autism.
That said, the deeper I went, the more I found myself increasingly uneasy with the philosophical and scientific posture the authors adopt.
At multiple points, the book seems to sacrifice nuance in favor of advocacy slogans — and that’s a real problem when the topic is as complex as autism.
One major example:
The authors often treat autistic lived experience as unquestionable authority. For instance, the authors say that researchers' recommendations must “not be allowed to drown out what autistic people themselves tell us directly about their needs.”
Of course autistic voices should be heard — but no experience, autistic or otherwise, is automatically self-validating. Science demands critical analysis of all forms of data, including personal testimony. Otherwise, we risk replacing one kind of dogmatism with another.
Even more troubling is the way the authors frame efforts to reduce the hardships of autism. They claim that: “Aiming to identify a cure or preventative measure for autism itself represents a moral bankruptcy.”
Honestly, that statement feels unfair and irresponsible. Seeking to lessen the suffering of a child who self-injures, cannot speak, or struggles to complete basic tasks isn't “morally bankrupt” — it can be an act of compassion.
There’s a huge ethical difference between wanting to erase autistic people and wanting to help individuals live healthier, happier, more independent lives. The autistic rights voices present here would have you think in absolutes.
In the later sections, the book often romanticizes autism to an extent that feels detached from clinical reality. It warns that early intervention programs might “...deny [autistic children's] right to follow their own autistic learning trajectory.”
But developmentally speaking, all children, autistic or not, depend on adult guidance to flourish. Neglecting to teach adaptive skills — in the name of "authentic learning" or unsubstantiated, uncritical validation — could leave children even more vulnerable to harm and exclusion.
Bottom Line:
Autism: A New Introduction has value, especially in challenging outdated models and encouraging respect for autistic people. But it overcorrects (irresponsibly), elevates ideology over balanced inquiry, and minimizes the real suffering that can accompany more severe forms of autism.
July 1, 2024
Brief but broad overview of the history and development of autism as a diagnosis and autistic people as a community, and summary of current (as of the book's publication) open questions and theories. Authors are not autistic but include commentary from autistic writers and activists, and the authors' commentary itself is thoughtful and humanizing. A lot of people seem to be going for Unmasking Autism as their intro book on autism and I wish more would start here; definitely a good next step if that's what you've read.
That said, it's definitely written for a more research-literate audience, so it can be a bit more challenging to read at times. I also found a couple areas where the book made one statement but the cited source didn't seem to support that, so I'm not sure if that's my own gap in understanding or an error on the writers' part.
That said, it's definitely written for a more research-literate audience, so it can be a bit more challenging to read at times. I also found a couple areas where the book made one statement but the cited source didn't seem to support that, so I'm not sure if that's my own gap in understanding or an error on the writers' part.
September 21, 2019
Some wonderful contributions to the field of autism studies. The book is written in an academic fashion. It's aimed at the right level for an highly interested or curious individual. I'd imagine this being a handbook for those navigating further study and research in this area.
Ideas of notes include monotropism (hyper and highly granular focus on very few elements), the double empathy problem (it takes two to misunderstand and the onus should not only be on the autistic neurotype but the normal neurotypes too) and that most of the deficit, developmental and information processing models cannot account completely for the plethora of autistic constellations observed. That leaves space for more exciting research.
Ideas of notes include monotropism (hyper and highly granular focus on very few elements), the double empathy problem (it takes two to misunderstand and the onus should not only be on the autistic neurotype but the normal neurotypes too) and that most of the deficit, developmental and information processing models cannot account completely for the plethora of autistic constellations observed. That leaves space for more exciting research.
February 5, 2020
This was recommended reading on the BSc course in Autism Studies that I’m studying. It is an excellent up to date overview of autism theory with thoughtful reflections throughout. There are testimonies at the end of each chapter from autistic individuals which give a real world insight into the theory. I also liked the flowchart summaries at the beginning of each chapter which are a nice addition. It does contain some fairly technical language but overall it’s a fantastic book.
September 20, 2019
While it was a bit shorter than I expected, this was a good introduction to the history and current state of our understanding of autism, and did a good job of approaching things from a neurodiversity paradigm. I appreciated the end-of-chapter responses from various autistic people, though I'm not sure they were as useful as they might have been.
March 26, 2023
A complete and up to date compendium of scientific literature on the topic of autism. It contains history, diagnostic criteria, Neuro biologic findings and cognitive theories. The neurodiversity perspective is both integrated in the commentaries of reaserchand treated separately. Language is in line with community preferences. Absolutely recommended, the best in its field.
April 5, 2023
I think the writers did a good job in summarising the various theories about autism, while being mindful for the perspective of autistic people. It was perplexing for me how little do we know about autism. Also, if you are searching for practical tools you should find another book. This is an introduction in scientific theories about autism.
November 18, 2023
This is my favourite autism book to date. As a recent postgraduate studying autism research in psychology, this book gives a brilliant introduction to different historical perspectives on cognition, behaviour, and autism, along with some contemporary ideas too. The book is very well organised, easy to understand at my level, and actually interesting! 10/10.
April 19, 2024
A well meaning book that manages to say little beyond, "We don't know anything and we hurt a lot of autistic people by pretending we do".
And while this acknowledgement may be seen as progress from the previous text in that it is less actively harmful to autistic people. It offers little in a way forward.
And while this acknowledgement may be seen as progress from the previous text in that it is less actively harmful to autistic people. It offers little in a way forward.
September 21, 2023
Probably the best overview of Autism that I've read so far. Very readable, nuanced and informative. Such a great resource! With a systemic lack of understanding of autism in the NHS, this needs to be on the shelf of every mental health practitioner.
April 18, 2021
Good introduction to the literature.
October 24, 2021
An up-to-date source about the explanatory cognitive theories regarding autism with an introduction to view autism as a constellation (3D) rather than a spectrum (2D).
March 12, 2020
This is a truly inspiring book that provides a glimpse of what a progressive approach to clinical psychology/psychiatry can look like. The authors provide a broad overview of autism in terms of presentation, scientific theory, lived experience, and cultural perception. Different theories are introduced that span the neural, cognitive, and cultural level. This book is full of many strength and progressive ideas that elevate it far above any textbook in psychology that I have read so far.
A particularly strong aspect of this book is that the theories are critically discussed in terms of their scientific merit, their utility for clinical practice, and their reception by the autistic community. The ‘big questions’ section at the end of the chapters further contributes to this. These questions about current gaps in the knowledge brought home that scientific inquiry is a process and that even textbook knowledge is constantly evolving.
Another groundbreaking aspect of this textbook is the many contributions from the autistic community. The comments at the end of each chapter provided a different view of the scientific theories and made me see these theories in a different light.
Another innovative addition were the illustrations that summarised each chapter. These illustrations made me feel like I could digest and remember the chapters more easily.
Altogether, this is the best textbook in any area of psychology/psychiatry that I have come across. I think it is the best book on autism that any researcher, parent, educator, or person with an interest in autism can read.
A particularly strong aspect of this book is that the theories are critically discussed in terms of their scientific merit, their utility for clinical practice, and their reception by the autistic community. The ‘big questions’ section at the end of the chapters further contributes to this. These questions about current gaps in the knowledge brought home that scientific inquiry is a process and that even textbook knowledge is constantly evolving.
Another groundbreaking aspect of this textbook is the many contributions from the autistic community. The comments at the end of each chapter provided a different view of the scientific theories and made me see these theories in a different light.
Another innovative addition were the illustrations that summarised each chapter. These illustrations made me feel like I could digest and remember the chapters more easily.
Altogether, this is the best textbook in any area of psychology/psychiatry that I have come across. I think it is the best book on autism that any researcher, parent, educator, or person with an interest in autism can read.
September 16, 2019
"The difference between one person's sensory sensitivity to artificial lighting and another person's autism is not simply a matter of intensity of reaction but of patterning and complexity" (p. 4).
"Developmental processes do not necessarily follow simple upward trajectories from less to more skilled" (p. 6).
"An autistic person's personal satisfaction with their life depends not so much on their being autistic, as on the capacity and willingness of those around them to understand, accept, and support them" (p. 8).
"Difficulties and strengths present themselves differently across the lifespan, and in different environmental contexts" (p. 19).
____
Something About Us campaign (p. 21)
social model / post-social model (p. 22)
"Developmental processes do not necessarily follow simple upward trajectories from less to more skilled" (p. 6).
"An autistic person's personal satisfaction with their life depends not so much on their being autistic, as on the capacity and willingness of those around them to understand, accept, and support them" (p. 8).
"Difficulties and strengths present themselves differently across the lifespan, and in different environmental contexts" (p. 19).
____
Something About Us campaign (p. 21)
social model / post-social model (p. 22)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews