Product Description

Although children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be as healthy as other children, keeping them that way can be a challenge. Routine doctor visits, for instance, can be especially trying for children with ASDs due to sensory sensitivities or communication difficulties. Issues such as sleep problems, unusual eating habits, and impulsive or aggressive behaviours can also threaten their health. Experts in the field of autism, offer parents accessible and authoritative information for dealing with these challenges and understanding what's most important to their child's medical, nutritional, and behavioural well-being. The book covers the following topics: Handling doctor visits and hospitalisations; Growth and nutrition; Safety issues at home, school, and in the community; Sleep; Seizures; Dental care; Sensory issues; Medications and behaviour; Adolescent issues; Behavioural deterioration; Complementary and alternative treatments.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #391796 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-28
• Released on: 2004-02-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 348 pages

Advance for Physical Therapists & PT Assistants, September 27, 2004
"[N]ecessary reading for all PTs and PTAs.... For parents of a child with autistic spectrum disorder, it is an essential medical reference."

About the Author
Fred R. Volkmar, M.D., is Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center. He is the primary author of the American Psychiatric Association’s DSMIV section on autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Volkmar is the director of autism research at Yale, and the coauthor of a number of books, including Asperger Syndrome, and The Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders.

Lisa A. Wiesner, M.D., is a pediatrician in private practice in Orange, Connecticut. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric training at Yale New Haven Hospital and a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Yale.

Customer Reviews

By a leading medical authority on autism
Fred Volkmar is a leading medical authority on autism and director of the Developmental Disabilities Clinic and Research Program at the Yale University Child Study Center. Lisa Wiesner is a pediatrician with a special focus on pediatric autism. Dr. Volkmar and Dr. Wiesner draw upon their considerable expertise and experience in Healthcare For Children On The Autism Spectrum: A Guide To Medical, Nutritional, And Behavior Issues to provide up to date and fully accessible information for parents and care-takers on children with autism ranging from birth through adolescence. The subject areas comprehensively range from growth and nutrition, seizures, dental care, sensory issues, adolescent issues, developmental deterioration, and ASD diagnosis, to sleep, complementary and alternative treatments, safety issues, medications and behavior, doctor and hospital visits, raising a healthy child, and providing parents with an overview of autism and related conditions. Healthcare For Children On The Autism Spectrum is vitally important and urgently recommended reading for any parent or caretaker charged with the responsibilities arising from children with any degree of autistic behavior.

Fills a real need
I am a physician and have looked for years for a book that would talk about medical care for children with autism and have now found it. This book is going to be a great resource for parents and teachers; it offers some good information to health care providers as well. It is balanced. Offers good coverage of a range of issues. The section on insurance is great - I don't know why the authors didn't put it early on in the book (they put it as an appendix)! The chapter on alternative treatments is very well done. Many great tips for managing office visits, the ER, hospitals, etc. Great reading list -Worth every penny!

a great source of practical knowledgeable information
This book provides a great deal of practical information for the parent of a child with autism. Routine health care visits and dental appointments and such can be incredibly stressful for children with autism and their parents, and the book provides practical advice on these issues. Another helpful chapter was that on using medication or other kinds of non medical treatments that you can find on the internet. There's so much information out there that it helps to have two authoritative voices helping one to sort these things through.