This volume aims to provide the reader with an up-to-date account of
knowledge, research, education, and clinical practice in the field of
au- tism, from an international perspective. The emphasis throughout is
on the growing points of knowledge and on the new developments in prac-
tice. We have tried to keep a balance between the need for rigorous
research and systematic evaluation and the importance of expressing new
ideas and concepts so that they may influence thinking at a stage when
questions are being formulated and fresh approaches to treatment are
being developed. The book had its origins in the 1976 International
Symposium on Autism held in St. Gallen, Switzerland but it is not in any
sense a proceed- ings of that meeting. Most papers have been extensively
rewritten to provide a fuller coverage of the topic and also to take
account of the issues raised at the meeting. Discussion dialogues have
been revised and re- structured to stand as self-contained chapters.
Many significant contribu- tions to the conference have not been induded
in order to maintain the balance of a definitive review; however a few
extra chapters have been added to fill crucial gaps 0 We hope the result
is a vivid picture ofthe current state of the art. As editors we have
been most impressed by the advances since the 1970 international
conference in London.