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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 purpose of this study is to investigate the social and affective aspects of communication in school-age children with HFA and school-age children with WS using a micro-analytic approach. Social communication is important for success at home, school, work and in the community. Lacking the ability to effectively process and convey information can lead to deficits in social communication. Individuals with high functioning autism (HFA) and individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) often have significant impairments in social communication that impact their relationships with others. Currently, little is known about how school-age children use and integrate verbal and non-verbal behaviors in the context of a social interaction.

A micro-analytic coding scheme was devised to reveal which channels children use to convey information. Language, eye gaze behaviors and facial expressions of the child were coded during this dyadic social interaction. These behaviors were coded throughout the entire interview, as well as when the child was the speaker and when the child was the listener.

Language results continue to pose problems for the HFA and WS groups compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. For non-verbal communicative behaviors, a qualitative difference in the use of eye gaze was found between the HFA and WS groups. For facial expression, the WS and TD groups produced more facial expressions than the HFA group.

No differences were observed in the HFA group when playing different roles in a conversation, suggesting they are not as sensitive to the social rules of a conversation as their peers. Insights from this study add knowledge toward understanding social-communicative development in school-age children.

In this study, two non-verbal behaviors will be assessed in multiple contexts: the entire biographical interview, when the child is the speaker and when the child is the listener. These social and expressive measures give an indication of how expressive school-age children are and provide information on their attention, affective state and communication skills when conversing with an adult. Insights from this study will add knowledge toward understanding social-communicative development in school-age children.

Children and young people with co‐morbid intellectual disabilities and autism are more prone to experience mental health problems compared to people with intellectual disabilities but without autism. Children and young people with intellectual disabilities and autism may experience symptoms of anxiety at a greater level than the general population; however, this is not supported with research evidence in relation to the prevalence of anxiety in people with intellectual disabilities and autism. The aim of this study is to identify the prevalence of anxiety disorders in children and young people with intellectual disabilities and autism.

In total, 150 children and young people (age range of 5‐18 years) from a metropolitan district in the North of England were screened for anxiety using the Reiss Scales for Children's Dual Diagnosis and the Glasgow Anxiety Scale.

The results indicate that the prevalence of anxiety was 32.6 per cent for children and young people with intellectual disabilities and autism on the Glasgow Anxiety Scale. One of the important questions that arise from this study is the risk factors for the high prevalence of anxiety in children and adolescents with autism.

The findings highlight the prevalence of anxiety in children and young people with co‐morbid intellectual disabilities and autism. This has implications for assessment of anxiety disorders for children and young people with intellectual disabilities.

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.

Metacognitive beliefs and processes have been found to perpetuate anxiety and depression in youth and adults. However, the presence of metacognitive beliefs in children with autism spectrum disorder is somewhat unclear and has received limited research attention to date. The purpose of this paper is to explore metacognitive beliefs in children with autism and associations with anxiety and depression.

In total, 23 high functioning participants (17 male and 6 female) between the ages of 8 and 12 (M=10.38) diagnosed on the autism spectrum completed the study. Participants completed the Revised Children’s Scale of Anxiety and Depression and the Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children.

Correlation analyses revealed that positive and negative metacognitive beliefs were found, as hypothesised, to be prevalent in this sample.

Despite methodological limitations, this is one of the first research evaluations to provide evidence for metacognitive beliefs in high functioning children with autism and comorbid anxiety or low mood.

This study builds on previous survey research by the investigators (Benford, 2008), as well as anecdotal reports, which imply that, despite having social interaction and communication difficulties, internet communication (via email, chat rooms, newsgroups and bulletin boards) is welcomed by some people with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS). Qualitative data about individual experiences, perceptions, and motivations regarding internet‐based communication was obtained from 23 adults with HFA or AS, mainly via email interviewing, but also by conventional mail. Analysis based on grounded theory revealed how the sample were able to use the internet to lessen the emotional, social and time pressures experienced in offline situations. Aspects that contributed to the perception of the internet as a potentially more comfortable communication medium included visual anonymity, a different and more flexible pace of communication, and the permanence of text. Overall, the complexity of communication was lessened, and a greater sense of control could be achieved.

This study aims to explore the gap between information needs and services for autism in China.

The gap is revealed by investigating the status quo of autism information needs and services. The authors extracted categories and subcategories of information needs through content analysis of academic documents and then supplemented the subcategories through text mining of an online forum. Meanwhile, categories and subcategories of information services were extracted through content analysis of autism websites. Finally, the authors matched the two to explore the gap and designed a quantitative index to measure it.

A total of eight and ten categories of information needs and services are extracted, respectively. In total, six categories of information needs can be partly matched, but nearly half of the subcategories failed. Huge gaps in economic support, sociality and policy mechanisms categories are observed through the quantitative index and medium gaps in social resource services and employment categories while almost no gaps in psychological/emotional counseling, rehabilitation skills training and professional knowledge/information categories.

This study takes a deep insight into the gap between autism information needs and services in China, providing evidences and suggestions for information providers to improve their services. Academic documents and online forum data are adopted to avoid the impact of stigmatization, which provides a multi-source data analysis approach for the information needs of special groups.

Canadian institutions of higher education have long touted their dedication to inclusivity and diversity. The Academy, however, exists in a mix of new managerialism and collegialism, environments that demand conformity and the prioritization of sameness over difference. For employees with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the very nature of their condition means that conforming to a standard is a difficult, if not impossible task. If passed, the proposed Accessible Canada Act means universities in Canada will have a legal responsibility to accommodate employees with disabilities, including ASD.

ASD is a neurodevelopmental condition of varying severity characterized by difficulties with communication, social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. While it is difficult to determine how many adults live with ASD in Canada, current statistics show that 1 out of 66 children are on the autism spectrum (PHAC, 2018). Many have physical and mental comorbidities that complicate their health status.

Though conformity may streamline human resources processes and standardize staffing issues, it is essential for administration to identify areas where they are weak in supporting potential and current employees who veer from the norm. Libraries need human resources policies and procedures that reflect and celebrate uniqueness. Long-held tendencies toward valuing fit and conventionality need to give way to transformational mentoring and empowering in order for a diverse workforce to reach its fullest potential. Embracing inclusivity will result in numerous benefits, not just for the employee but for the library. This chapter shows how personnel with high-functioning autism can be best supported in Canadian academic libraries.