Customer Reviews

Clinical Assessment and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional)

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Although this work provides a diverse amount of information on clinical assessment and intervention for autism spectrum disorders, it contains several weaknesses that prevent it from being called a "cohesive textbook." After working as a special educator at the high school and community college levels for over twenty years, these shortcomings are readily apparent to me. First, this book is filled with repetitious information that appears over and over again as the reader sifts through pages and chapters. Second, since this is a compendium of different author styles and approaches, it is imperative that the editor, Johhny Matson, control this format and information provided in each chapter, so the reader is guaranteed a degree of consistency. This was not done. Merely putting a bunch of chapters together without an overall design leaves the reader confused and uninformed. I have seen several other books edited by Johhny Matson. They are on a variety of educational topics, and I wonder whether each has similar shortcomings like this work on autism. Third, there is an overuse of abbreviations in his book causing the reader to flip pages back and forth to follow information supplied by a certain writer. Despite my extensive knowledge in special education, I found this aspect interrupted the reading of pages.

For the above reasons, I would not recommend this "comprehensive textbook" on autism spectrum disorder. The reader can acquire pieces of relevant information from it; however, there are other books offered on Amazon that are far more informative and user-friendly. As I read this work, I found myself turning to the end of each chapter to find articles/books for increased knowledge. Going to the source is preferable than getting it "second hand" in a textbook.

Clinical Assessment and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional) (Purchased on 05/22/2010)
by Johnny L. Matson
This was purchased to us for a gradute class. I found it very useful and will probably keep as a reference for the rest of my career.

Thorough, comprehensive and well written text, useful for any professional working in ASD. Gives theory and research, but also practical advice, and addresses ASD myths. Worth reading from cover to cover.