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People--Eugen Bleuler
Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, coined the word "autism." He was working with schizophrenic patients, and noticed that among these patients were severely withdrawn and self-absorbed individuals. These were the individuals who lead him to coin the term autism, which is derived from the greek term "auto," meaning self. -
Prevalence-- 4 to 5 in 10,000
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People--Leo Kanner
Leo Kanner, an American child psychiatrist, studied 11 children who had symptoms such as difficulties in social interactions, difficulties in adapting to changes in routines, good memory, and sensitivty to stimuli. He described these children as highly intelligent who had a "powerful desire for aloneness" and an "obsessive insistence on persistent sameness." He published a paper, "Autistic Disturbance of Affective Contact," describing these children. -
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Treatment--Lovaas Method
Ole Ivar Lovaas studied behavior analysis and treatment of children with autism. He implemented treatment at home with the intensity being 40 hours weekly. -
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Treatment--LSD and Electric Shock
Treatment throughout the 1960s and 1970s included medications such as LSD, and the use of electric shocking. -
People--Helen Allison
Helen Allison, a mother of a child with autism, appeared on BBC's Women's Hour to talk about her son Joe, and how autism has affected him. This raised awareness and knowledge about autism. -
People--Bernard Rimland
Bernard Rimland, psychologist and parent of a child with autism, disagreed with Bettelheim's theory of "refrigerator mothers." He believed that he and his wife did not cause his son to have autism, and published "Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior." This book included information about the causes of autism, in which Rimland claimed it was biology and not parenting. -
People&Treatment--Temple Grandin
Temple Grandin, and 18-year-old with autism, invented the "squeeze machine." This machine exerts a kind of deep touch pressure which has significant calming effects on animals and humans. -
People--Bruno Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist, popularized the theory that "refrigerator mothers" caused autism. He described these mothers as not loving their children enough, and claimed they were cold and uncaring. Therefore, he separated the children he was working with form their mothers. -
Causes--Refrigerator Mothers
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People&Treatment--Eric Schopler and TEACCH
Eric Schopler, an American psychologist, was a pioneer in autism research. He founded Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH). This initiative included parents in their children's therapy. -
People--Anna Jean Ayres
Anna Jean Ayres, an American occupational therapist, identified that children with autism may also have sensory problems. -
Causes--Genetics
Research conducted by Susan Folstein and Michael Rutter on twins found that autism is largely caused by genetics and differences in brain development. -
People--Hans Asperger
Hans Asperger, a German scientist, described a milder form of autism (now referred to as Asperger's syndrome). He studied a group of children who were highly intelligent but they had trouble with social interactions and displayed specific obsessive interests. -
People--Lorna Wing
Lorna Wing worked on a project called the Camberwell Study with a colleague named Gould. They found that individuals with autism varied in the degree of severity related to their displayed characteristics and delays. She later went on to use Asperger's Syndrome as a way to describe individuals with autism who had no cognitive delays (high functioning autism). -
Causes/Treatment-- Diet and Biochemical Treatment
It was believed that autism symptoms were caused by diet, such as ones high in gluten. Therefore, biochemical treatments were used, and diet supplements and restrictions were put into place for children with autism. -
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Treatment--Behavior Therapy
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, behavior therapy emerged as the primary treatments for autism through the use of highly controlled learning environments. -
Treatment--Holding Therapy
Holding therapy was introduced, which is when a child is retrained and forced to perform various social reactions like maintaining eye contact -
Causes--MMR Vaccine
A study written by Andrew Wakefield was published suggesting that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. This article was later found to be fraudulent. Although, as a result, vaccine manufacturers removed thimerosal from childhood vaccines in 2000 due to public fears about its role in autism. -
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Trend-- 120% increase in prevalence
Between 2002 and 2010, there occurred a 120% increase in autism spectrum disorder prevalence. -
Prevalence--1 in 150 children
The CDC estimated that 1 in 150 children had autism spectrum disorders. -
Prevalence--1 in 110 children
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 1 in 110 children have autism spectrum disorders. -
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Treatment--Behavior and Language Therapy
Interventions often used for children with Autism are behavior therapy and language therapy. -
Prevalence-- 1 in 68
The current estimate of children affected by an autism spectrum disorder is 1 in 68.
