TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children) has grown over the past three decades from a small clinic for children to an internationally recognized treatment and support modality for individuals of all ages with autism spectrum disorders. In The TEACCH Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders, the program’s founders and their colleagues explain its methods and philosophy based on an understanding and respect for "the culture of autism." The TEACCH program focuses on persons with autism and the development of instruction and supports based on each individual’s skills, interests, and needs. It draws from the research literature in psychology and neuropsychology to create activities and environments that are organized to emphasize meaningfulness—an approach that has proved crucial to an autistic individual’s ability to learn, comprehend, and apply learning across situations. The TEACCH Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders explains how: - TEACCH targets critical areas in executive functioning, engagement, communication, and social skills. - Strategies can be tailored to an individual’s unique developmental and functional level. - Parents become involved in all phases of intervention as collaborators, cotherapists, and advocates. - The program can be introduced and adapted for individuals of all ages, from preschool children to adults. - Professionals can be trained in the program and its methods. This progressive program offers individuals with autism, their families, teachers, and therapists both optimism and useful strategies, without minimizing the condition or its effects. All clinicians working with people with autism will find The TEACCH Approach to Autistic Spectrum Disorders a valuable resource.

The state of North Carolina has had a longstanding concern and com mitment to the understanding and treatment of autistic, communications handicapped children and their families. This commitment found expres sion in the only comprehensive statewide program for families confronted with this disability, Division for the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren (Division TEACCH). Our program staff has been privileged to respond to this commitment by developing and providing the needed services, and to engage in research informed by our clinical experience. Although many of the problems con cerning these developmentally disabled children remain to be solved, substantial progress has been made during this past decade of collabo ration among professionals, parents, and their government representa tives. The TEACCH staff has resolved to mark the effectiveness of this collaboration by holding a series of annual conferences focused on the several major issues confronting these children and their families. The conferences are held in order to bring together the best research knowl edge available to us from throughout the country, and to encourage par ticipation by the different professional disciplines and concerned parents. In addition these annual meetings form the basis for a series of books based on the conference theme. These books are, however, not merely the published proceedings of the presented papers: some chapters are expanded from conference presentations and many others were solicited from experts in the related areas of research and their service application.

The North Carolina State Legislature's mandate to Division TEACCH has three major components. First, to provide the most up-to-date and cost effective services possible for families with autistic or similar language impaired children; second, to conduct research aimed toward the better under standing of such devastating disorders; and third, to provide training for the professionals needed to pursue these goals. One element in achieving these aims is to hold annual conferences on topics of special importance to the under standing and treatment of autism and similar disorders. In addition to training professionals and parents on the most recent de velopments in each conference topic, we are publishing a series, Current Issues in Autism, based on these conferences. These books are not, however, simply the published proceedings of the conference papers. Instead, some chapters are expanded conference presentations, whereas others come from national and in ternational experts whose work is beyond the scope of the conference, but es sential in our attempt at comprehensive coverage of the conference theme. These volumes are intended to provide the most current knowledge and profes sional practice available to us at the time.