The state of North Carolina has had a longstanding concern and com-
mitment to the understanding and treatment of autistic, communications-
handicapped children and their families. This commitment found expres-
sion in the only comprehensive statewide program for families confronted
with this disability, Division for the Treatment and Education of
Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren (Division
TEACCH). Our program staff has been privileged to respond to this
commitment by developing and providing the needed services, and to
engage in research informed by our clinical experience. Although many of
the problems con- cerning these developmentally disabled children remain
to be solved, substantial progress has been made during this past decade
of collabo- ration among professionals, parents, and their government
representa- tives. The TEACCH staff has resolved to mark the
effectiveness of this collaboration by holding a series of annual
conferences focused on the several major issues confronting these
children and their families. The conferences are held in order to bring
together the best research knowl- edge available to us from throughout
the country, and to encourage par- ticipation by the different
professional disciplines and concerned parents. In addition these annual
meetings form the basis for a series of books based on the conference
theme. These books are, however, not merely the published proceedings of
the presented papers: some chapters are expanded from conference
presentations and many others were solicited from experts in the related
areas of research and their service application.
