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By Brenda Legge.
Jessica Kingsley Publishing
£12.95, ISBN 1 85302 974 2

Children who have autistic spectrum disorders challenge their parents in many ways. Rejecting their food is one of their more distressing patterns of behaviour.

The author's 11-year-old son has Asperger's syndrome and from an early age he showed an intense dislike of food. His rejection of food did not seem to be within his control. Frustrated in her attempts to deal with his behaviour, she decided to find out whether other parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders encountered similar challenges. She put notices in various specialist journals inviting parents to share their experiences and mailed more than 100 dietary questionnaires to those who responded. This book is the product of that survey.

The first four chapters reflect on her own experiences. Following this, Legge reports on the results of the survey, beginning with 56 case histories and ending with the "top 10 tips". The remainder of the book explores different professional approaches to the management of eating disorders and includes transcripts from interviews with a young woman with autism, a dietician, a teacher and a clinical psychologist. The book should succeed in its aim to provide support to parents who have children with similar problems.

Oliver Russell is a consultant psychiatrist.