This book offers an interdisciplinary rethinking of autism by integrating neuroscience, phenomenology, and clinical care into a coherent, person‑centered framework. Moving beyond symptom-focused diagnostic models, it examines autism as a dynamic neurodevelopmental condition shaped by embodied experience, developmental context, and social environments. Drawing on contemporary neuroscientific findings and first‑person accounts, this book highlights the heterogeneity of autistic perception, cognition, and meaning-making and demonstrates how these insights challenge deficit-based assumptions that continue to dominate research and practice.

Through its neurophenomenological approach, this book connects brain-level mechanisms with lived experience to support more individualized, ethically grounded care. Clinical chapters translate this integrative framework into practice, emphasizing autonomy, participation, mental health, and environmental adaptation over normalization. The book also addresses the broader ethical, cultural, and policy implications of reframing autism within a disability-informed perspective.

Designed for clinicians, researchers, educators, and policy planners, this concise SpringerBrief synthesizes diverse disciplinary insights while offering clear implications for improving practice and shaping future research. It presents a transformative vision for understanding and supporting autistic individuals across the lifespan, grounded in scientific rigor, experiential knowledge, and humane care.

Mohamed Ahmed Abdelhay, MD, Ph.D., is a professor of Psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt. He received his MBBS degree in 1990, a Master’s Degree in Neuropsychiatry in 1996, and an MD in Psychiatry in 2001. He has held the position of the professor of Psychiatry since 2011 and teaches psychiatry and psychology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His research interests include general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry, and he has published widely in peer-reviewed journals. He is the author of Essentials of Psychiatric Assessment (2018) and Understanding Psychology for Medicine and Nursing (2019). He also founded the educational YouTube channel “Psychiatry Tube” for psychiatry training in the Arabic region.