The History of Autism

By eschwabe

  • Early recognition

    In the early 1900's autism was first recognized as symptoms of schizophrenia.
  • Period: to

    Timespan of Autism evolution

  • First diagnosis of autism

    Donald Grey Triplett, a 5-year-old boy, of Mississippi is first examined by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner and later becomes the first person diagnosed with autism symptoms.

  • Leo Kanner blames autism on lack of parental warmth

    Leo Kanner published a paper title, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact" which blamed symtoms of autism on lack of parental warmth.

  • Hans Asperger gains wider recognition of autism

    Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician, published a paper about the autistic syndrome and its seperation from schizophrenia and lack of parental warmth. The paper gains wider recognition when it is translated into English in the early 1990s.

  • Blame on lack of parental warm is overturned

    Bernard Rimland, a research psychologist, published a paper titled, "Infant Autism: The Syndrome and its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior." The paper contradicts the previous stated belief by Leo Kanner that autism is derived from parental faults.

  • National Society for Autistic Children forms

    In 1965 Bernard Rimland founded the National Society for Autistic Children (now known as Autism Society of America). The foundation originally formed to reject the belief that autism is formed from lack of parental warmth and works towards finding a new derive.

  • Autism defined as schizophrenia

    Autism is officially classified as a syndrome of schizophrenia, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

  • Autism Research Institute founded

    Bernard Rimland newly founds the Autism Research Insitutte. This becomes one of the first efforts of autism focused research.

  • Leo Kanner denies his preivous staements

    Leo Kanner, who in 1943 blamed autism on lack of parental warmth, claims he was misquoted and that he never spoke of such blame at a Autism Society of America meeting.

  • Autism spereately classified

    For the first time in history, Autism is separately classified from schizophrenia in the third edition of the DSM.

  • Federal Government gives Autism recognition

    The federal government makes autism a special education category, prompting schools to begin to identify and serve autistic students specially and seperately from other students.

  • Aspergers Syndrome recognized

    Aspergers Syndrome is recognized as a category under autism and is added as a pervasive developmental disorder in the fourth edition of the DSM.

  • 220% increase of diagnosis of Autism in a decade

    California officials report 12,000 autism cases in the state developmental services system. This is stated as a rise of more than 220 percent in a decade.

  • Autism Awareness Day is adopted

    The United Nations adopts April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day.

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder is new label for autism

    The fifth edition of the DSM newly identifies autism as the Autism Spectrum disorder.