He is also the founder of the Autism Society of America (1965), and the editor of the Autism Research Review International. His book, Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implication for a Neural Theory of Behavior (1964) is widely credited with changing the field of psychiatry from its claim that autism is an emotional illness, caused by destructive mothers, to its current recognition that autism is a biological disorder. He has lectured on autism and related problems throughout the world, and is author of numerous publications. He served as primary technical advisor on autism for the film Rain Man.