History of Autism

1908: 

They described it as a subset of schizophrenic patients who were especially withdrawn and

self-absorbed.

1911:

 Psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler created the terms autism and autistic to describe an aspect of

schizophrenia in which a person withdraws from the outside world into himself

1943: 

Child psychiatrist Leo Kanner,published a paper describing 11 children who were highly

intelligent but displayed "a powerful desire for aloneness" and "an obsessive insistence on

persistent sameness." He later names their condition "early infantile autism."

1944:

  A scientist named Hans Asperger describes a "milder" form of autism now known as

Asperger's Syndrome. The studies he did were all on younger boys who were highly intelligent but had trouble with social interactions and specific obsessive interests.

1964:

  Psychologist Bernard Rimland wrote a book that insisted autism is biological rather then

an emotional illness caused by unfeeling parents *Rimland was also a parent of a child with

autism and founder of Autism Society of America (ASA). the ASA was the first parent driven

organization that provided information and support to parents  

Click Here to Visit The Autism Society of America

 1967:

 Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim claimed that the cause of autism was from "Refrigerator

Mothers" which is a mother who did not love there child enough,cold parent,unfeeling. Post-World War II, there was a lot of psychoanalytic work done on autism where researchers looked solely at the impact of life experiences. "They didn't consider the role of biology or genetics, which we now understand to be the main cause.

1977: 

 Studies on identical twins brings to light autism is largely caused by genetics and biological

oppositions in brain development.

1980: 

 Autism was added to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) for the first time.The

condition is also officially separated from childhood schizophrenia.

1987:

  O.Ivar Lovaas published his studies showing dramatic IQ gain for a large number of autistic

children participating in an applied behavior analytic intervention program, called discrete trial

training. The first study showing how intensive behavior therapy can help children with autism, thus giving new hope to parents. The DSM replaces "infantile autism" with a wider definition of "autism disorder," they also included a checklist of diagnostic criteria.

1991:

 The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) recognized autism as one of the

thirteen disabilities under which a student could be eligible for special education services

1994: 

Asperger Syndrome is added to the DSM, widening the amount autism spectrum to include milder cases in which individuals tend to be more highly functioning.

1998: 

A study published in The Lancet suggests that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine

causes autism. This finding was quickly ruled out.

2000:  

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 was quickly ruled out.

2009:

  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 110 children

have autism spectrum disorders,which is higher than the 1 in 150 in 2007, although the CDC addresses that the increase stems at least in part from improved screening and diagnostic techniques.

2013:

  The DSM-5 compiles all subcategories of the condition into one diagnosis of autism spectrum

disorder (ASD). Asperger's Syndrome now is not considered a disorder of is own. ASD is defined by two categories: 1) Impaired social communication and/or interaction. 2) Restricted and/or repetitive behaviors.