Autism, a fascinating, complex and controversial disorder. Join Amy and Hunter for an overview of Autism, or as it is currently known, Autism Spectrum Disorder. This episode should be a good one stop shop for giving you a) a description of the signs and symptoms of Autism, b) a history of how Autism and Aspergers Syndrome came to be recognised, c) a description about one of the main psychological theories to explain some of the challenges people with Autism have, and d) a discussion of myths about Autism. The episode wraps with Things We Came Across, Hunter discussing fainting in classical paintings while Amy tackles the influence of social anxiety on Pokemon Go behaviour.

This episode is pitched at a high level but should be accessible enough to learn about Autism and it is one of our longer shows because there is a lot to cover (and we didn’t even go into working with people with ASD). Autism is a really interesting topic for clinicians and students of psychology to study given it’s complexity and also the intersection of experimental social cognition research, advocacy, early intervention and the emerging neuro-divergent community and movement.

If there is anything you think we missed or would like us to cover about Autism then email us at [email protected].

Research & information:

Autism : A New Introduction to Psychological Theory and Current Debate by Francesca Happé , and Sue Fletcher-Watson

Vaccination and Autism (it doesn’t cause Autism) : https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/vaccination-and-autism.pdf

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th edn (DSM-5)

https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/special-reports/theories-of-autism/

The Metamorphosis of Autism by Bonnie Evans: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK436841/

TV shows & movies mentioned:

• Atypical

• Big Bang Theory

• Please Stand By

• Bones

• Rain man

• The IT crowd

Things we came across:

Fainting and painting: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0074774206740077

Personality & pokemon go: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886917307067