Important Facts Involving the History of Autism

Although the history of autism likely began wellchildren he came to call autistic psychopaths.
over a century ago, autism wasn't previouslyAsperger noted many of the same traits in the
recognized as its own condition, it was originallychildren that Kanner studied. However, the one
confused with another mental disorder,trait he did not mention was the delayed echolalia.
schizophrenia.Instead, he noted that his group of children spoke
For many years, it was also believed that autismlike "little grown-ups". Asperger also mentioned
was the result of one, basic cause. Today, it istheir clumsy motor skills that were different from
known that autism does not only have one cause,the average child. If the name Asperger looks
and nothing about the disorder is basic.familiar, this is because he plays a major role in
For instance, although all autistics have issues withthe history of autism in regards to Asperger
social development, some may be highly giftedSyndrome, now recognized as a specific type of
and learn to live independently, while others arehigh functioning autism.o 1967 - Bruno Bettelheim -
mentally unable to grasp concepts and areAn Austrian-American child psychologist and writer
completely dependent.wrote The Empty Fortress: Infantile autism and
However, you may be wondering, how did thethe birth of the self. Within his work, Bettelheim
history of autism develop and where did it alldiscussed three therapy session he had with
begin?children whom he called autistic. Bettelheim claimed
The following are the main facts that outline thethat the autistic disorder was the result of their
major breakthroughs in autism history.o 1912 -mother's coldness. It was his belief that parents
Eugene Bleuler - a Swiss psychiatrist was the firstshould not be involved in the children's therapy.
to recognize a pattern in schizophrenic individualsThis lack of understanding of the condition left
who seemed to be self-absorbed. Bleuler referredmany parents wrongly feeling they were
to this self-absorption as "autism"; he was thesomehow to blame.o 1970's - Autism knowledge
first to create and use this term. However, heand research spread to Sweden. The Erica
was not the first in the history of autism toFoundation in Sweden began education and
recognize autism as being a separate mentaltherapy for autistic children. During their research,
disorder from schizophrenia.o 1943 - Leo Kanner -it was discovered that autism was more complex
an Austrian-American child psychologist was thethan initially realized. This led researchers down a
first to recognize autism as an independentnew path, making them realize, for one of the
mental disorder. Kanner described a group of 11first time in the history of autism that there was
children having the following commonmore than one, general cause of autism.o 1980's -
characteristics:o Displaying anguish with changesoAutism research really took off and more
Problems with social interactiono Delayed echolaliaresearchers were becoming convinced that the
(vocally repeating the sounds or words oftypical reasons were related to neurological
another)o Good memoryo Overly sensitive todisturbances, which may be on occasion combined
specific stimulants, particularly soundo Problemswith other genetic factors such as chromosomal
with foodo Difficulty being spontaneouso Notableaberrations, metabolic disturbances, or illness.
intellectual potentialFor information on recognizing and treating autism
Kanner labeled the behaviors of these 11 childrensign up for the free Autism newsletter below.
as having early infantile autism.o 1944 - HansThe history of autism still continues to this day, as
Asperger - an Austrian scientist and pediatrician,researchers are still on a quest to determine the
wrote about his experiences with a group ofcause and the most effective treatment.