History of Autism

By katelyngibbs11

  • Leo Kanner is the first to clinically describe autism

    In his paper “Autistic Disorders of Affective Contact” Leo Kanner provided case studies of several children who were highly intelligent, but had difficulty with social interactions. Kanner believed that these patients differed from other cases of childhood schitzophrenia.

  • Hans Asperger identified several children with symptoms similar to Kanner's children.

    Hans Asperger's children did not have problems with speech however,

  • Several children are diagnosed with certainty with the disorder described by Kanner

    In the John Hopkins Pediatrac Psychiatry unit, over 100 chldren were diagnosed with what Kanner had described in his 1943 paper as autistic.

  • LSD was an experimental drug used tp "cure' autism

    Some studies found that LSD may help to treat autism/childhood schitzophrenia, but the research lacked control and was never fully proven.

  • Kanner coins the term "refrigerator" mother:

    Kanner believed that a cold and unloving mother could be the root cause of autism.

  • Creak develops a scale for diagnosing autism

    Creak developed a nine-point scale to help in the diagnosis of autism. These items did not predict the disorder in isolation, but a combination of seven or more items would classify a diagnosis.

  • Eric Schoppler developed the TEACCH approach

    This approach, which stands for Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication handicapped Children, was a program that paired parental interaction with therapy.

  • Bettelheim links parental pathology to the behavior of the child

    In the book "The empty fortress" Bettleheim promotes parental psychoanalysis because he believed that the psychological problems of the parent were being displayed through their child.

  • Bernard Rimland fights against the idea that parenting causes autism

    Bernard Rimland publishes a paper arguing that autism is linked to neurological problems, not the result of poor parenting.

  • A genetic comoponent is discovered

    Twin studies done by Michael Rutter and Susan Folstein show there to be some type of genetic link to the disorder.

  • The DSM-II seperates autism from childhood schitzophrenia

    In this updated DSM, autism is considered its own disorder for the first time.

  • Lorna Wing coins the term "Aspergers Syndrome"

    Lorna Wing coined the term "Aspergers Syndrome" to describe the children that Hans Asperger had studied.

  • The first standardized dignostic criteria for autism is published in the DSM-IIIR

    The DSM-IIIR provided the world with a standardized way to diagnose autism.

  • Bettelheim commits sucide

    After Bettelheim's death in 1990, many suprising facts began to come out about his private life, which may have had a profound effect on his theories about the disorder.

  • School systems begin offering services to children diagnosed with autism

    School systems finally accept children with autism into special education programs.

  • Asburgers is created as its own disorder

    Asburgers is added into the DSM to describe those with autism who have higher functioning than others.

  • People begin to fear that vaccines could be linked to autism

    An article in The Lancet proposes that autism could be caused by vaccines.

  • The Lancet article is debunked

    Reporters discovered that Dr Andrew Wakefield manipulated the results of the research involving vaccines and autism.

  • Andrew Wakefield finally admits the link between autism and the MMR vaccine was fabricated

    Despite allegations for several years, it was not until 2010 that Wakefield finally admited to fabricating the research that linked autism and vaccines.

  • DSM-IV lumps all autism related disorders into Autism Spectrum Disorder.

    As a result of this change, Asburgers is no longer considered a seperate disorder.