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Eugen Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist. He was the first person to use the term, autism. He started using this term around 1911.
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Grunya Sukhareva was a child psychiatrist in Kiev, Russia. She wrote about six children with autistic traits which then was published in a scientific German psychiatry and neurology journal.
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Louise Despert was a psychologist in New York. She studied 29 cases of childhood schizophrenia. Some of the cases involved symptoms that are today's classification of autism.
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Leo Kanner published a paper describing 11 patients who were fascinated with objects and had a “resistance to (unexpected) change.” Later on he named this condition “infantile autism.”
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Hans Asperger was an Austrian pediatrician. He published scientific studies of children with autism. In a study of four boys ages 6 to 11, he found similarities in their behaviors like being fully interested in one thing at a time and not wanting to socially interact with others. He formed the term Asperger's Syndrome.
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Leo Kanner states his theory that autism is caused by "refrigerator mothers." This is to describe parents who are cold and detached from their children.
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In the first edition of the American Psychiatric Associations's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), children with symptoms of autism are labeled as having childhood schizophrenia.
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Bernard Rimland published Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior. This was about challenging the “refrigerator mother” theory and discussing the neurological factors in autism.
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Ole Ivar Lovaas starts working on his theory of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for autistic children.
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The Sybil Elgar School begins teaching and caring for children with autism.
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A group of parents with autistic children had their first meeting of the National Society of Autistic Children. This group is now called the Autism Society of America.
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Bruno Bettelheim writes Empty Fortress. This writing talks and agrees with the “refrigerator mother” theory as the cause of autism. He agreed that parents who are cold and detached to their children cause autism.
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Lorna Wing proposes the concept of autism spectrum disorders. She stated the “triad of impairment.” The three areas involved in autism are social interaction, communication, and imagination.
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Nancy Harris was interested in widening the speech and language skills of her son who was born with a severe hearing loss. She is the founder of The Summit Center (originally known as the Language Development Program) located in Buffalo. The Summit Center offers many services for individuals with autism.
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The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was put in place to meet the needs and protect the rights of individuals with disabilities.
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The first study was conducted on twins and autism. The study founded that genetics play a role in autism.
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The third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) includes criteria for a diagnosis of infantile autism for the first time.
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Autism Services, Inc. (ASI) was founded in1982 as a Saturday recreation program for children with autism. ASI offers support in many ways through an education program for adolescents ages 5-21, adult day services program that encourage community inclusion and work-readiness, 13 residences, a well-respected visual and performing arts program, and extensive community outreach offerings.
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Dr. Ivar Lovaas conducted a study with sixty children with Autism. He concluded that intense therapy is beneficial to these individuals and will help them learn skills.
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Autism became classified as a disability category in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). With this addition in IDEA, it makes it easier for autistic children to get special education services.
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Temple Grandin wrote Emergence—Labeled Autistic. This is a book about her life with autism and how she lives successfully with it.
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Andrew Wakefield published his paper suggesting that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine triggers autism. Later it was proved that vaccines do not cause autism.
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The Autism Awareness Puzzle Ribbon was adopted by the Autism Society. The ribbon is for “the universal sign of autism awareness.”
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Autism Speaks Inc. is the largest autism advocacy organization in the United States. This group has a lot of resources for families, public and individuals.
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Ari Ne'eman founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
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The DSM-5 combines autism, Asperger’s, and childhood disintegrative disorder into autism spectrum disorder.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines one in 54 children have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
