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Rating: 
Summary: Very comprehensive guide to autism medications
Review: Luke Tsai has provided a very comprehensive, yet concise and readable guide to medications used to treat autism. The book clearly acknowledges limitations of medications and its potential for misuse and goes on to discuss clearly where particular types of medications may be useful. Parents and individuals with autism in particular need to be informed about medications since general practitioners and psychiatrists specializing in areas other than the autistic spectrum are often not well informed about the medical needs of those on the spectrum (e.g., in many cases, individuals with autism will respond to relatively doses of medications much lower than those needed to be effective in the general population).The book is very well organized and contains a great deal readily accessible information. Tradeoffs and the role of medications in treatment are discussed along with the issue of comorbidity--the tendency of autism to coexist with other conditions--is discussed. Subsequently, medications that may be useful in different situations are discussed. For those interested, an appendix discussing the "big picture" of psychopharmacology is available. Another appendix summarizes uses, dosages, and administation of specific medications. The book does mention a number of technical terms so that the reader will be familiar with those as they crop up in other reading, but the book is genuinely readable and a very nice balance has been struck between comprehensiveness and conciseness. The book certainly lives up to its title in demystifying autism medications!
Rating:
Summary: Very comprehensive guide to autism medications
Review: Luke Tsai has provided a very comprehensive, yet concise and readable guide to medications used to treat autism. The book clearly acknowledges limitations of medications and its potential for misuse and goes on to discuss clearly where particular types of medications may be useful. Parents and individuals with autism in particular need to be informed about medications since general practitioners and psychiatrists specializing in areas other than the autistic spectrum are often not well informed about the medical needs of those on the spectrum (e.g., in many cases, individuals with autism will respond to relatively doses of medications much lower than those needed to be effective in the general population). The book is very well organized and contains a great deal readily accessible information. Tradeoffs and the role of medications in treatment are discussed along with the issue of comorbidity--the tendency of autism to coexist with other conditions--is discussed. Subsequently, medications that may be useful in different situations are discussed. For those interested, an appendix discussing the "big picture" of psychopharmacology is available. Another appendix summarizes uses, dosages, and administation of specific medications. The book does mention a number of technical terms so that the reader will be familiar with those as they crop up in other reading, but the book is genuinely readable and a very nice balance has been struck between comprehensiveness and conciseness. The book certainly lives up to its title in demystifying autism medications!
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