History of Autism

By mwin

  • Autism Used to Describe Patients

    The word "Autism" is used to describe patients that were "withdrawn and self-absorbed"

  • Leo Kanner, psychiatrist, publishes "early infantile autism" paper

    Describes eleven "highly intelligent" children that demonstrated "a powerful desire for aloneness" and "an obsessive insistence on persistent sameness."

  • Hans Asperger - Asperger's Syndrome

    German scientist Hans Asperger describes a mild form of Autism he labels as Asperger's Syndrome. "The cases he reported were all boys who were highly intelligent but had trouble with social interactions and specific obsessive interests."

  • Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim's "Refrigerator Mothers" Theory

    Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim falsely theorizes that "refrigerator mothers" were the cause of autism due to moms not loving their children enough.

  • Autism Cause Determined

    Research reveals autism is "largely caused by genetics and biological differences in brain development."

  • Infantile Autism listed in DSM

    "Infantile autism" is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for the first time; the condition is also officially separated from childhood schizophrenia."

  • Intensive Behavior Therapy Gives Hope

    "The DSM replaces "infantile autism" with a more expansive definition of "autism disorder," and includes a checklist of diagnostic criteria. UCLA psychologist Ivar Lovaas, Ph.D., publishes the first study showing how intensive behavior therapy can help children with autism--thus giving new hope to parents."

  • Movie "Rain Man" Creates Public Awareness

    "The movie Rain Man is released. It stars Dustin Hoffman as an autistic savant who has a photographic memory and can calculate huge numbers in his head. "This was important for raising public awareness of the disorder," Dr. Volkmar notes, although not every kid on the autism spectrum has these kinds of skills."

  • Autism A Special Education Category

    "The federal government makes autism a special education category. Public schools begin identifying children on the spectrum and offering them special services."

  • Asperger's Syndrome Added to DSM

    "Asperger's Syndrome is added to the DSM, expanding the autism spectrum to include milder cases in which individuals tend to be more highly functioning."

  • Study Indicates MMR Vaccine Causes Autism

    "A study published in The Lancet suggests that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism. This finding was quickly debunked."

  • Thimerosal Removed from Vaccines

    "Vaccine manufacturers remove thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative) from all routinely given childhood vaccines due to public fears about its role in autism--even though, again, the vaccine-autism link has been debunked."

  • CDC Indicates 1 in 110 Children Have Autism

    "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 110 children have autism spectrum disorders, up from 1 in 150 in 2007, though the CDC notes that the increase stems at least in part from improved screening and diagnostic techniques."

  • DSM-5 Indicates One Umbrella Diagnosis for ASD

    "The DSM-5 folds all subcategories of the condition into one umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Asperger's Syndrome is no longer considered a separate condition. ASD is defined by two categories: 1) Impaired social communication and/or interaction. 2) Restricted and/or repetitive behaviors."

  • CDC's New Autism Prevalence Estimates Reported As 1 in 68

    Autism Speaks President Liz Feld appears on CSPAN to discuss the CDC's new austism prevalence estimates to be 1 in 68.