Autism: A Very Short Introduction: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The author is after what has become the holy grail of autism professionals -- a single definable "deficit" which all other traits of autism stem from. She believes she has found it in the central coherence deficit and possibly poor theory of mind, and dismisses traits that don't appear to stem from these things as not "pure" autism. This seems like a circular approach to research, but one that is unfortunately too common, that involves throwing out evidence that doesn't fit one's theory.

There are a good deal of facts in this book, and a good deal of attributes I recognize in myself as an autistic person. However, the way the facts were connected up did not seem to have much bearing on how things really work for me as an autistic person, which seems especially ironic in a book with a thesis that it is autistic people who lack an ability to pull information together properly. From the look of this book, it seems as if autism researchers can also have trouble putting together information into coherent wholes.


Great primary source for research purposes   April 4, 2003
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is a book for researchers primarily. It introduces Frith's theory of weak central coherence as an underlying mechanism in autism. The theory runs (in a nutshell) that autistic individuals do not exhibit context appropriate responses to situation, events, etc. Relevance theory (cf. Sperber & Wilson) oils the wheels of Frith's theory.

The book opens with a long exegesis on a historical case and performs more than a bit of post mortem diagnosis. Such rational reconstructions of the past can be either very rivetting or tiresome. I wasn't convinced that the story avoided the latter pitfall. More enjoyable if shortened.

The rest of the book concentrates on theories of autism and their testability. The tussle between theory of mind (cf. Baron-Cohen's book: Mindblindness) is discussed and gives a brief foretaste of disputes that dominated the nineties'. However, the difficulty that central coherence itself faces is how to shape it into a coherent scientific theory? Frith doesn't entirely skirt this issue and there is much to be gained from simply reflecting on her approach to theory development.

Be warned that lighting up the research stage is a major focus of the work, and this will limit it's appeal. My final comment is not to buy this edition of the book, but to wait for the June 2003 edition. It can only be better.


Highly informative   May 26, 2002
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book explains very clearly what autism is and what it isnyt. The book reads almost like a detective story as Frith guides the reader gradually into building an understanding of the nature of autism. She begins by simultaneously attacking the questions of how long autism has been affecting humans and whether bad parenting causes autism by reviewing the literature concerning wild or neglected children. She notes that some of the famous cases of wild children, such as the wild boy of Aveyron were probably autistic, based on their behavior following discovery, while others such as Genie were not, in spite of extreme neglect. Her argument is that if horrific abuse and neglect did not result in autism in Genie, then certainly any parents who treat their children better than Genieys parents treated her could not be blamed in any way for causing autism in their children.

Frithys central claim is that autism consists of a lack of drive towards central coherence. That is, autistic individuals are unable to or unmotivated to put different pieces of information together to construct a whole. This results in delayed language development, since autistic children lack the drive to distinguish speech sounds from random background noises, or deduce rules of grammar from sentences they are exposed to. Autistic individuals also have trouble learning social skills for the same reason, and they develop a very literal understanding of language. To support this theory, Frith draws on numerous ingeniously designed psychological studies that tease apart what autistic individuals can and cannot do.

While Frith doesnyt have any definite answers of what causes autism or how it can be prevented, she notes that there may be genetic causes in some cases. She also points out that about 75% of autistic individuals also have additional mental handicaps. She suggests that in many cases, perhaps even the majority, autism is just one of the problems in a brain that has suffered some sort of damage or injury during development. Towards the end of the book, the author notes that she doesnyt provide many specific ideas for treatment. Instead, she offers her scientific explorations into the nature of autism, in the hope that others might use this information to help autistic individuals develop ways to cope with or compensate for their challenges.

This book is highly academic and it draws on hundreds of published studies. It will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the topic.