What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder - Autism Connect

Paul Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, first coined the term in 1911 . He used it to describe a subset of schizophrenic patients who seemed to be self- absorbed and withdrawn. As time passed, our thinking and understanding of autism has evolved dramatically. An analysis of the description of behavior traits observed in several early documented cases suggests that these are in fact cases of what we now recognize as Autism. One famous and well documented example of this would be the story of Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron, who was found naked in a French forest. Victor did not understand language and would eat only half-burned or roasted potatoes, walnuts and raw chestnuts. Some even believed that he had been reared by wolves. The French physician Dr. Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard took Victor under his care and brought him to Paris. Dr. Itard spent several years trying to help Victor to integrate into human society and teaching him language. He was not completely successful as Victor only learned some French words, but never fully understood the language. However, there was an improvement in Victor’s fine motor skills and communication. He also developed a friendship with his caregivers. It is now known that Victor may have been autistic and whoever he lived with was unable to understand him. Hence, although Autism seems to be a new condition, a look at its history suggests that it may have always existed..

Dr. Leo Kanner (pronounced "conner") and Dr. Hans Asperger have played the most crucial roles in introducing Autism to the world. In 1943, Dr. Leo Kanner, an Austrian psychiatrist working at Johns Hopkins Hospital, published a paper describing 11 children who displayed a "strong desire of being alone", had a "resistance to change" or a "need for sameness". He introduced the term "early infantile autism" to describe his observations. A year later, Dr. Hans Asperger, also an Austrian psychiatrist, described similar characteristics in a group of children he was treating. It is was eventually accepted as a diagnosis in 1981 and coined as "Asperger’s Syndrome" by Dr Lorna Wing, an English Psychiatrist, who pioneered in child development disorders and advanced the perception of Autism, worldwide.