| |
| |
| Acknowledgments | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| Scientific Evidence Is Important but Falls Short | |
| |
| |
| Parents Are at the Center | |
| |
| |
| Parenting a Child with Autism as a Journey | |
| |
| |
| What Went into This Book | |
| |
| |
| A Quick Guide to This Book | |
| |
| |
| |
| What Is Autism? | |
| |
| |
| Three Differences Define Autism | |
| |
| |
| A Brief History of How Autism Has Been Defined and Explained | |
| |
| |
| Definition vs. Diagnosis | |
| |
| |
| How Should We Describe Autism? | |
| |
| |
| The Impact of Autism on a Life: Learning from Others' Experience | |
| |
| |
| Moving Forward with Understanding and Appreciation | |
| |
| |
| |
| What Causes Autism? | |
| |
| |
| How the Evidence Stacks Up | |
| |
| |
| Looking into the Future | |
| |
| |
| |
| Can Autism Be Cured? | |
| |
| |
| What Do We Mean by "Cure"? | |
| |
| |
| What's the Evidence for Any Form of Long-Term Improvement? | |
| |
| |
| If Not a Cure, Then What Are We Aiming For? | |
| |
| |
| |
| Difficulty, Stress, and Our Advice for You | |
| |
| |
| An ASD Diagnosis Affects Parents | |
| |
| |
| Tackling Common Challenges | |
| |
| |
| Striving for a Balanced Mind-Set | |
| |
| |
| |
| Getting a Diagnosis | |
| |
| |
| Does Your Child Behave Differently? | |
| |
| |
| The Diagnostic Appointment | |
| |
| |
| The Diagnosis | |
| |
| |
| |
| Understanding Your Child's Specifics and Building Your Treatment Team | |
| |
| |
| What? More Tests? | |
| |
| |
| How to Develop a Profile of Your Child's Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| |
| |
| Building the Right Treatment Team | |
| |
| |
| Making Every Appointment Effective | |
| |
| |
| |
| Choosing Interventions and Treatments | |
| |
| |
| Learn about Providers and What They Do | |
| |
| |
| Navigate the Terrain of Treatments and Interventions | |
| |
| |
| Make Your Choice | |
| |
| |
| |
| Medications | |
| |
| |
| Approved Drugs for Autism | |
| |
| |
| How Drugs Are Studied | |
| |
| |
| Why Consider Medications for Autism? | |
| |
| |
| Types of Medications for Autism Symptoms | |
| |
| |
| Side Effects and Multiple Medications | |
| |
| |
| Navigating Medication Decisions | |
| |
| |
| |
| Other Biomedical, Physical, and Sensory Interventions | |
| |
| |
| Sensory Interventions | |
| |
| |
| Dietary Interventions | |
| |
| |
| Biomedical Therapies | |
| |
| |
| |
| Education | |
| |
| |
| Learning | |
| |
| |
| Educational Approaches | |
| |
| |
| Working with Your Educational Team | |
| |
| |
| Becoming Your Child's Best Advocate | |
| |
| |
| |
| Social, Communication, and Language Interventions | |
| |
| |
| Speech and Language Therapy | |
| |
| |
| Visually Based Communication Interventions | |
| |
| |
| Interventions That Target Social Interaction | |
| |
| |
| Arts-Based Interventions | |
| |
| |
| |
| Real-Life Knowledge, Skills, and Families | |
| |
| |
| Knowledge about the World | |
| |
| |
| Develop Your Own Practical Learning Agenda | |
| |
| |
| Practical Teaching | |
| |
| |
| Daily Living Skills | |
| |
| |
| Everyday Challenges | |
| |
| |
| Afterword | |
| |
| |
| Recommended Reading | |
| |
| |
| References | |