Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Abstract From its beginnings, “autism” has been a term that focused on a neurodevelopmental disorder with deficits in social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. Recent developmental research has focused on deficits in social understanding, repetitive behaviors, affective development, social cognition, and interpersonal reciprocity. This chapter reviews the history, definition and classification, epidemiology, clinical features, etiologies (genetic and environmental), natural history, neurobiology, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. It focuses on the spectrum of social communicative and social interaction deficits in autism spectrum disorder and examines the underlying neurobiology. The major emphasis is on social understanding and the development of social awareness and repetitive behavior from a neurobiological and a social interactional perspective.