Autism: Explaining the Enigma

Autism: Explaining the Enigma
AuthorUta Frith
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAutism
GenreScience
PublisherBlackwell Publishing
Publication date1989
2003 (second edition)
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typeHardcover, Paperback
ISBN0-631-22901-9
OCLC50404148
Dewey Decimal618.92/8982 21
LC ClassRJ506.A9 F695 2003
Followed byAutism – Mind and Brain 

Autism: Explaining the Enigma is a non-fiction book by developmental psychologist Uta Frith, first published by Basil Blackwell in 1989, that surveys research on autism through a cognitive and neuropsychological lens. A substantially updated second edition was published in 2003.

Overview

In the book, Frith synthesises research on autism and discusses cognitive accounts that were influential in late-20th-century autism research, including difficulties in understanding other people's mental states (often discussed in relation to theory of mind) and atypical integration of information (commonly discussed under the term weak central coherence).

The second edition adds discussion of subsequent developments and includes expanded coverage of neuropsychological and neuroscience research that emerged after the first edition.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wing, Lorna (1990). "Autism: Explaining the Enigma. By U. Frith". Psychological Medicine. 20 (3): 726–728. doi:10.1017/S003329170001727X.
  2. ↑ Ainsworth, Patricia (1990). "Autism: Explaining the Enigma. By Uta Frith. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1989. 204 pp. £8.95 (pb), £25.00 (hb)". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 156 (6). Retrieved 2026-03-30.
  3. 1 2 Scott, Fiona J. (2004). "Autism: Explaining the Enigma, 2nd edn". Psychological Medicine. 34 (6): 1140–1141. doi:10.1017/S0033291704243203.
  4. ↑ Bishop, Dorothy V. M. (2008). "Forty years on: Uta Frith's contribution to research on autism and dyslexia". Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 61 (1): 16–26. doi:10.1080/17470210701508665. PMC 2409181.
  5. ↑ Leekam, S. R. (1991). "Book Review: Autism: Explaining the Enigma". The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 43 (2): 301–302. doi:10.1080/14640749108400972a. Retrieved 2026-03-30.
  6. ↑ "Is Your Child Showing Signs of Autism? A Simple Screener for Parents". Retrieved 2026-09-24.
  7. ↑ Baron-Cohen, Simon (2003). "A mature view of autism". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00194-3.