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Currently, approximately one in 100 Americans meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Males are four-to-five times more likely to be diagnosed than females. Because the demand for ADS community-based services outweigh available resources, applicants are placed on a waiting list until services are available. Some wait for years; many adults with an ASD continue to live with their parents who also often serve as de facto case managers. When the decision of which facility to place a resident comes, most families are unprepared to make the decision. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Community-based participatory research theory was used in designing interviews of family members facing residential facility placement decisions. Ten interviews were conducted with families.

Participant answers were categorized within the topic areas of: physical site, staff, transportation, community, diet, behavior, medical, and faith.

Individuals with ASD and their families have varied answers as to what they desire in a residential facility. The most important factor, however, is that the questions be asked, that they be listened to and be given choices on what residence fits their own particular needs.

This study determined what is important to the families of and individuals with intellectual and mental disabilities and autism when looking for community-based placement.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders with uncertain etiology. Evidence shows that genetic testing can explain about 20% of cases. This study aims to assess the level of awareness and perception of medical genetic services among Malaysian parents with ASD children.

A cross-sectional survey using an interviewer-administered questionnaire was done among 111 parents of children with ASD from August 2017 to September 2019 in two clinics in Malaysia.

A majority of children with ASD (80.20%) were male and diagnosed at the age of 3–4 years old (47.80%). When the autistic child was born, most mothers and fathers were aged 26–30 (40.50%) and 31–35 years old (42.30%), respectively. Another child with ASD in nuclear and extended families was reported for 11.70% and 13.50%, respectively. Only 24.30% have seen a professional genetic consultant, and 19.8% have done genetic testing for affected children. The mean score of awareness of genetic services for ASD was 2.48 ± 3.30. Having medical insurance and another child with ASD in the nuclear family was significantly associated with a higher level of awareness (p = 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). Most of the participants have a positive perception of these services.

Regardless of demographic factors, participants have poor awareness of genetic services for ASD, likely because the primary physician did not recommend it upon diagnosis. Increasing health-care providers’ knowledge about the current potential of genetic testing for ASD and educational campaigns for the public are critical components of using available genetic tests to improve ASD management.

This paper provides a brief overview of research, knowledge and practice regarding Asperger's syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder that has only recently been acknowledged by clinicians. The paper reviews our knowledge of the degree and nature of the impairments of social understanding of such individuals, especially their problems with making and keeping friends, perception of social and emotional cues, understanding and management of emotions, and ability to recognise the thoughts and feelings of others. Difficulties with communication and conversation skills are explained, as well as the person's tendency to develop areas of expertise and special interests. People with Asperger's syndrome have an unusual profile of cognitive abilities; some have signs of movement disturbance and some are extraordinarily perceptive of sensory experiences. The prevalence and aetiology of Asperger's syndrome are discussed briefly.

The ways in which the brain, as mapped by bioscience, has become popularly understood as the locus and determinant of the self is a topic of increasing importance within medical sociology. Nikolas Rose has influentially chronicled the emergence of a “neurochemical self,” determined by brain chemistry and thus fluid, malleable, and open to improvement via increasingly fine-tuned psychopharmacology. This chapter argues for the contemporaneous emergence of a neurostructural self, intrinsic to the growing neurodiversity movement. Drawing on trends in contemporary neuroscience and biological psychiatry, this model of “brainhood” conceptualizes the brain-as-self as a material system: governed by physical laws, and thus both morally innocent and robustly predictable. Rather than being infinitely open to intervention and optimization, however, the neurostructural self is imagined as fixed and immutable, resistant to the medical intervention and presumption of infinite flexibility inherent within neurochemical selfhood. This chapter draws on a two-year ethnographic study of autism spectrum disorders in North America, investigating the ways in which circulating discourses about medicine, culture, and identity are shaping the emergence, development and use of autism spectrum diagnoses in contexts of daily practice. In this chapter, I explore why individuals with the autism spectrum disorder known as Asperger's syndrome are particularly effective examplars, consumers, and producers of this neurostructural selfhood.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a clinical framework developed for autistic women. INVEST (Identify Needs, Validate, Educate, Strengthen and Thrive) is a strengths-based neurodiversity therapeutic approach. Autistic individuals are treated with respect and are believed to have the capacity to make meaningful changes in their lives.

The author’s clinical experiences working as an individual, couple and family therapist specializing in girls and women with autism inform this paper. The innovative therapeutic approach will be described including reasons for seeking therapy, the theoretical underpinnings and case examples that bring each component of INVEST to life.

Women with autism are very responsive to a therapeutic process that validates their experiences. Helping individuals and their support systems learn more about autism and their unique profile can enhance understanding and self-acceptance. Strategies to increase emotional awareness and reduce victimization are emphasized. Understanding sensory triggers and executive functioning challenges enable individuals to make useful adaptations. Building skills and setting parameters on time and energy help to stave off autistic burnout.

The impact of the INVEST model goes beyond the therapist’s office and can be applied to multiple settings. All professionals have the opportunity to treat autistic women with respect, validation and an assumption of competence.

Clinical program are scarce for individuals with autism, especially women. The INVEST model is the beginning of a discussion of what can help autistic women thrive.

We report the case of a man with Asperger's syndrome and borderline intelligence, atypical eating disorder (food faddiness/refusal due to fear of choking) and XYY syndrome. We consider multi‐modal management and inter‐agency service provision issues in meeting his complex mental health and social needs.

Thorn model psychosocial interventions (PSI) assist clients and their carer systems to manage the effects of psychotic symptoms. PSI has a broad menu of possible interventions from which a client and their therapist choose the most efficacious. In this process, assessment of the client's lived experience is crucial to choosing the most appropriate interventions. However, there are difficulties in adapting interventions designed for the ‘normal’ population for those with learning disabilities. This case study will explore conducting a Thorn model semi‐structured interview with a man with a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome and mental health problems, highlighting both challenges and the approach used to address them.

Generation A individuals with Asperger's (high-functioning autism) might increase their chance that their skills fit with job requirements (person-job fit) by considering various nonacademic and popular lists of Asperger's-friendly jobs. Asperger's “celebrity” and professor Temple Grandin's list of 51 jobs was investigated using Asperger's-related job characteristics from the US Department of Labor's O*NET job description database. Using a factor analysis resulting in six Asperger's-related job characteristics, social orientation was the only factor that significantly predicted Grandin's judgment of what is an Asperger's-related job based on a binomial logistic regression analysis. Another analysis using O*NET data showed a wide variety of jobs that were most and least associated with each of the six factors. Study limitations and future research follow the analyses.

This research aims to examine the relationship between the physical environment and neuropsychological perception in children with Asperger’s disorder.

This study through mixed qualitative–quantitative approaches conducted strategies including a survey and case study. Accordingly, multiple methods were applied to collect data including semi-structured expert interviews (20 persons) and questionnaires (N = 400). The sampling strategy of questionnaire participants was random clustering and the target population was children with Asperger from Iran Asperger Support Associations. Besides, the sampling strategy for the participants of semi-structured expert interviews was non-random and purposeful. The collected data from the participant’s questionnaires and interviews were analyzed by Porsline and Excel software and content analysis, respectively.

Based on the relationship between the physical environment and neuropsychological perception, the results of the research indicate that despite all existing differences between the two spectra of hyper-sensitive and hypo-sensitive behaviors, it is possible to design architectural spaces responding to their common needs and satisfy both spectra.

This research on to healing aspect is quite new and contributes significant information about health issues in building design. This study tries to derive and examine the supportive characteristics of architectural spaces that integrate special physical and effective designs to improve the healing process of children with Asperger’s disorder.

Housing Options is an independent advisory service for people with learning disabilities, their relatives and housing and care providers. Housing Options wanted to promote the development of opportunities for those with autism, to help those growing up and wanting their own home. A two‐year project has begun with help from the Shirley Foundation, to review need, demand and the range of existing services, look at what services local authorities, providers and families want and provide information and guidance to help with service development.