Rita Jordan | |
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Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
Scientific career | |
Thesis | An empirical and theoretical investigation of pronominal development in individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (1998) |
Rita Ruth Jordan is an academic and researcher in the field of autism. She worked with children with special educational needs and started training programmes for their parents before moving into academia.
Jordan has a B.Sc. from University College London, an M.Sc. in child development, and an M.A. in linguistics. [1] She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham in 1998. [2] [3] She trained teachers at the University of Hertfordshire [4] before moving to the University of Birmingham. She started the Autism Centre for Education and Research at the University of Birmingham along with Glenys Jones. [5] Jordan was the founding editor for Autism along with Patricia Howlin. [6] Jordan retired from the University of Birmingham and is now an emeritus professor. [7]
Jordan's work focused on improving the educational support for children on the autism spectrum. She published a review on existing educational interventions for the Department for Education along with her colleagues at Birmingham in 1998. [8] She has authored several books on autism, [9] many of these have been translated into different languages. [10] [11] Her publications cover topics in the field of autism and education, including books such as Autism with Severe Learning Difficulties, [12] Autism and Learning, [13] and Understanding and Teaching Children with Autism. [14] Her journal articles raised issues to consider in the development of provision and practice for individuals on the autism spectrum. [15] [16]
Jordan's awards include an OBE in 2007. [17] She presented the Gulliford Lecture at the University of Birmingham in 2007. [18] In 2014 she received a lifetime achievement award from the National Autistic Society, [19] and in a 2014 interview, Jordan describes this as a positive moment in her career. [20]
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome, formerly described a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication combined with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. The syndrome has been merged with other conditions into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a stand-alone diagnosis. It was considered to differ from other diagnoses that were merged into ASD by relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) is a trademarked proprietary treatment program for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), based on the belief that the development of dynamic intelligence is the key to improving the quality of life for autistic people. The program's core philosophy is that autistic people can participate in authentic emotional relationships if they are exposed to them in a gradual, systematic way. The goal of treatment is to systematically build up the motivation and tools for successfully interacting in social relationships, to correct deficits in this area that are thought to be common to all autistic people.
Lorna Gladys Wing was an English psychiatrist. She was a pioneer in the field of childhood developmental disorders, who advanced understanding of autism worldwide, introduced the term Asperger syndrome in 1976 and was involved in founding the National Autistic Society (NAS) in the UK.
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This relationship between autism and memory, specifically memory functions in relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), has been an ongoing topic of research. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by social communication and interaction impairments, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. In this article, the word autism is used to refer to the whole range of conditions on the autism spectrum, which are not uncommon.
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Professor Cheryl Dissanayake AM, FASSA is the inaugural Olga Tennison Endowed Chair in Autism Research and was the founding Director of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre based at La Trobe University, Australia. She is a developmental psychologist and behavioural scientist in the field of autism research.