This innovative volume explains how concepts of learning disability, intellectual disability and autism first came about, describes their more recent evolution in the formal disciplines of psychology, and shows the direct relevance of this historical knowledge to present and future policy, practice and research.

1. Introduction 2. Exclusion 3. Intelligence 4. Difference 5. Causes 6. Development 7. Assessment 8. The Autism Paradigm 9. Autism in Context 10. Conclusion

C. F. Goodey is Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Medical Humanities, University of Leicester, having previously held teaching and research posts elsewhere in the UK at Ruskin College, the Open University and University College London Institute of Education. He is also an independent consultant on learning disability services for local government and national organizations. He is the author of A History of Intelligence and 'Intellectual Disability': The Shaping of Psychology in Early Modern Europe.