This book first explains autism, its prevalence, and some conventional intervention techniques, and it then describes how virtual reality technology can support autism intervention and skills training. The approaches and technologies covered include immersive virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. The tasks covered include emotion recognition, affective computing, teaching communication skills, imparting literacy skills, training for imitation skills, and joint attention skills. Most of the chapters assume no prerequisite knowledge of autism or virtual reality, and they are supported throughout with detailed references for further investigation. While the author is an engineer by profession, with specialist knowledge in robotics and computer-based platforms, in this book she adopts a user perspective and cites many real-life examples from her own experience. The book is suitable for students of cognitive science, and researchers and practitioners engaged with designing and offering technological assistance for special needs training.

This book explores and evaluates accounts and models of autistic reasoning and cognition from a computational standpoint. The author investigates the limitations and peculiarities of autistic reasoning and sets out a remediation strategy to be used by a wide range of psychologists and rehabilitation personnel and will also be appreciated by computer scientists who are interested in the practical implementation of reasoning. The author subjects the Theory of Mind (ToM) model to a formal analysis to investigate the limitations of autistic reasoning and proposes a formal model regarding mental attitudes and proposes a method to help those with autism navigate everyday living. Based on the concept of playing with computer based mental simulators, the NL_MAMS, is examined to see whether it is capable of modeling mental and emotional states of the real world to aid the emotional development of autistic children. Multiple autistic theories and strategies are also examined for possible computational cross-overs, providing researchers with a wide range of examples, tools and detailed case studies to work from. Computational Autism will be an essential read to behavioral specialists, researcher’s, developers and designers who are interested in understanding and tackling the increasing prevalence of autism within modern society today.

The Oxford Handbook of Autism and Co-Occurring Psychiatric Conditions is the first sole-source volume that synthesizes a vast amount of literature on all aspects of psychiatric comorbidity in autism.

This New York Times–bestselling book upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently. What is autism? A lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more—and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years. Going back to the earliest days of autism research, Silberman offers a gripping narrative of Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger, the research pioneers who defined the scope of autism in profoundly different ways; he then goes on to explore the game-changing concept of neurodiversity. NeuroTribes considers the idea that neurological differences such as autism, dyslexia, and ADHD are not errors of nature or products of the toxic modern world, but the result of natural variations in the human genome. This groundbreaking book will reshape our understanding of the history, meaning, function, and implications of neurodiversity in our world.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known as a neuro-disorder in which a person may face problems in interaction and communication with people, amongst other challenges. As per medical experts, ASD can be diagnosed at any stage or age but is often noticeable within the first two years of life. If caught early enough, therapies and services can be provided at this early stage instead of waiting until it is too late. ASD occurrences appear to have increased over the last couple of years leading to the need for more research in the field. It is crucial to provide researchers and clinicians with the most up-to-date information on the clinical features, etiopathogenesis, and therapeutic strategies for patients as well as to shed light on the other psychiatric conditions often associated with ASD. In addition, it is equally important to understand how to detect ASD in individuals for accurate diagnosing and early detection. Artificial Intelligence for Accurate Analysis and Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorder discusses the early detection and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder enabled by artificial intelligence technologies, applications, and therapies. This book will focus on the early diagnosis of ASD through artificial intelligence, such as deep learning and machine learning algorithms, for confirming diagnosis or suggesting the need for further evaluation of individuals. The chapters will also discuss the use of artificial intelligence technologies, such as medical robots, for enhancing the communication skills and the social and emotional skills of children who have been diagnosed with ASD. This book is ideally intended for IT specialists, data scientists, academicians, scholars, researchers, policymakers, medical practitioners, and students interested in how artificial intelligence is impacting the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder.

A groundbreaking argument about the link between autism and ingenuity. Why can humans alone invent? In The Pattern Seekers, Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen makes a case that autism is as crucial to our creative and cultural history as the mastery of fire. Indeed, Baron-Cohen argues that autistic people have played a key role in human progress for seventy thousand years, from the first tools to the digital revolution. How? Because the same genes that cause autism enable the pattern seeking that is essential to our species's inventiveness. However, these abilities exact a great cost on autistic people, including social and often medical challenges, so Baron-Cohen calls on us to support and celebrate autistic people in both their disabilities and their triumphs. Ultimately, The Pattern Seekers isn't just a new theory of human civilization, but a call to consider anew how society treats those who think differently.

The two volume set LNCS 13258 and 13259 constitutes the proceedings of the International Work-Conference on the Interplay Between Natural and Artificial Computation, IWINAC 2022, held in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain in May – June 2022. The total of 121 contributions was carefully reviewed and selected from 203 submissions. The papers are organized in two volumes, with the following topical sub-headings: Part I: Machine Learning in Neuroscience; Neuromotor and Cognitive Disorders; Affective Analysis; Health Applications, Part II: Affective Computing in Ambient Intelligence; Bioinspired Computing Approaches; Machine Learning in Computer Vision and Robot; Deep Learning; Artificial Intelligence Applications.