Although the history of autism likely began well over a century ago, autism
wasn't previously recognized as its own condition, it was originally confused
with another mental disorder, schizophrenia.
For many years, it was also believed that autism was the result of one, basic
cause. Today, it is known that autism does not only have one cause, and nothing
about the disorder is basic.
For instance, although all autistics have issues with social development,
some may be highly gifted and learn to live independently, while others are
mentally unable to grasp concepts and are completely dependent.
However, you may be wondering, how did the history of autism develop and
where did it all begin?
The following are the main facts that outline the major breakthroughs in
autism history.
• 1912 - Eugene Bleuler - a Swiss psychiatrist was the first to recognize a
pattern in schizophrenic individuals who seemed to be self-absorbed. Bleuler
referred to this self-absorption as "autism"; he was the first to create and use
this term. However, he was not the first in the history of autism to recognize
autism as being a separate mental disorder from schizophrenia.
• 1943 - Leo Kanner - an Austrian-American child psychologist was the first
to recognize autism as an independent mental disorder. Kanner described a group
of 11 children having the following common characteristics:
o Displaying anguish with changes
o Problems with social interaction
o Delayed echolalia (vocally repeating the sounds or words of another)
o Good memory
o Overly sensitive to specific stimulants, particularly sound
o Problems with food
o Difficulty being spontaneous
o Notable intellectual potential
Kanner labeled the behaviors of these 11 children as having early infantile
autism.
• 1944 - Hans Asperger - an Austrian scientist and pediatrician, wrote about
his experiences with a group of children he came to call autistic psychopaths.
Asperger noted many of the same traits in the children that Kanner studied.
However, the one trait he did not mention was the delayed echolalia. Instead, he
noted that his group of children spoke like "little grown-ups". Asperger also
mentioned their clumsy motor skills that were different from the average child.
If the name Asperger looks familiar, this is because he plays a major role in
the history of autism in regards to Asperger Syndrome, now recognized as a
specific type of high functioning autism.
• 1967 - Bruno Bettelheim - An Austrian-American child psychologist and
writer wrote The Empty Fortress: Infantile autism and the birth of the self.
Within his work, Bettelheim discussed three therapy session he had with children
whom he called autistic. Bettelheim claimed that the autistic disorder was the
result of their mother's coldness. It was his belief that parents should not be
involved in the children's therapy. This lack of understanding of the condition
left many parents wrongly feeling they were somehow to blame.
• 1970's - Autism knowledge and research spread to Sweden. The Erica
Foundation in Sweden began education and therapy for autistic children. During
their research, it was discovered that autism was more complex than initially
realized. This led researchers down a new path, making them realize, for one of
the first time in the history of autism that there was more than one, general
cause of autism.
• 1980's - Autism research really took off and more researchers were becoming
convinced that the typical reasons were related to neurological disturbances,
which may be on occasion combined with other genetic factors such as chromosomal
aberrations, metabolic disturbances, or illness.
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The history of autism still continues to this day, as researchers are still
on a quest to determine the cause and the most effective treatment.
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