Autism is a complex and incurable constellation of bizarre behaviors, impaired cognition, limited language, and most distressingly, a lack of responsiveness to other people, and it has been the center of impassioned debates for decades. What is it? What causes it? How can it be treated? In "The Science and Fiction of Autism," one of the country's leading experts in behavioral treatments approaches autism through the context of its controversies, showing where extraordinary and unfounded claims have falsely raised hopes, stirred fears, and ruined lives. Arguing that autism is an entirely biological disorder, however complex its neurological origins, Laura Schreibman lays waste to the beliefs that it is caused by "refrigerator mothers" or the MMR vaccine, as well as to the simplistic claims that it can be cured by a variety of unsubstantiated treatments. Drawing from her own long clinical experience with autistic children and their parents, Schreibman arms her readers--students, educators, psychologists, and parents alike--with information and arguments to deal with the onslaught of good, bad, deficient, and irrelevant ideas about autism.

劳拉·施赖布曼（LauraSchreibman）博士是美国加州大学—圣地亚哥分校（UCSD）心理学系杰出教授（DistinguishedProfessor），注册心理学家。是自闭症研究领域中具有世界水平的领军人物，也是应用行为分析方面最受尊敬的研究者之一。劳拉教授是加州大学圣地亚哥分校（UCSD）自闭症干预研究项目负责人，关键行为训练（PRT）的创始人之一。曾任美国加州大学—圣地亚哥分校（UCSD）副校长，心理学系主任，是十九家世界著名心理学与特殊教育杂志的编委，自1983年以来，一直就职于加州大学—圣地亚哥分校（UCSD）心理学系。发表论文140多篇，出版专著4部。