Hall of Mirrors - Shards of Clarity : Autism, neuroscience and finding a sense of self

Drawing on Phoebe Caldwell's 40 years of experience and expert knowledge of autism and Intensive Interaction, Hall of Mirrors - Shards of Clarity marries recent neuroscience research evidence and practical approaches used in care to cover a wide range of vital subjects.

Sense of self, confirmation, sensory issues, case studies and neuroscience findings are explored and weaved together in an inspired way which brings aims to bring theory into practice and vice versa, while at the same time listening to the voices of people with autism.

The result is to allow everyone in the autism field to take a few steps forward with how they interact and support autistic people. The journey in this book is one of exploration. Phoebe uses her experience of working with people on the autistic spectrum to consider what life is like for them and seeks to use new neuroscientific knowledge to help us understand better how this group of people see the world.

In doing this she includes her own personal experiences, her years of work and most importantly the voices of people labelled as being on the autistic spectrum.

This is an unusual synthesis and one which provides the reader with an accessible and interesting account and which makes a unique contribution to our understanding of each other. In trying to understand better how people see the world Phoebe takes the reader on a personal journey into the recent research which is revealing more about how our brains work to create our own unique perceptions and view of the world.

Her interest and passion inform the pages and provide the reader with an accessible account in which the practical implications of the research are clearly stated.

While many books now provide accounts of the lives of people labelled as being on the autistic spectrum, they are often written from one particular perspective.

This book is interdisciplinary in its approach. As part of her journey Phoebe draws on history, psychology, neuroscience and personal narratives bringing them together through her own voice.