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Eugene Bleuler
A Swiss Psychiatrist that coined the word "autism" in his schizophrenic patients. "Autism" is derived from the greek word "autos" which means "self". The person isolates themselves from social interaction. -
Leo Kanner
An American child psychiatrist who studied 11 children and provided a description in his published paper, "Autistic Disturbance of Affective Contact", of impairements seen in autism (lack of social interactions, anguish for changes, good memory, belated echolalia, over sensitivity to certain stimuli, food problems, limitations to spontaneous activity, intellectual potential, repetitive and restricted activities. -
Hans Asperger
A scientist from Germany who described a milder form of autism, now known as asperger's syndrome. He reported on a group of boys who were highly intelligent but struggled with social interactions and had specific obsessive interests. He reported that children with Asperger syndrome were very clumsy and different within their fine motor skills when compared to same aged peers. -
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Bruno Bettelheim
(CAUSE): A psychiatrist who claimed that the cause of autism was due to uncaring, detached, and "cold" mothers who did not love their children enough.
(TREATMENT): Bettelheim believed that treatment consisted of removing these children from their "refrigerator mothers" and provided them with play therapy while the mothers received psychoanalysis or counseling. -
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Research into Treatments
(TREATMENTS): Much research took place during this time where different types of treatments were introduced. Treatments included: medication, electric shock, and behavior change techniques. -
Bernard Rimland
(CAUSE): A psychologist and parent of a child with Autism who completely disagreed with Bettleheim's theory. In his published book, Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior, Rimland attributed the cause of autism to biological issues. Soon it became known that autism was a biological disorder of brain development. -
Lorna Wing
One of the first people to use the word spectrum. In a study that she conducted with Gould, Lorna Wing used the term spectrum to describe the varied degrees of autism based on the severity of characteristics. -
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) included infantile autism as a condition in their manual that officially separated autism from childhood schizophrenia. -
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Autism Research & Education gain momentum
Asperger's work was translated into English which became knowledgable to many. The Erica Foundation provided education and therapy for psychotic children. The population becomes more aware of this disability through the popular movie, Rain Man. Behavioral therapy and using highly controlled learning environments became one of the main treatments for autism. -
DSM revision
The term "infantile autism" became replaced by the term "autism disorder" within the DSM. -
IDEA's Definition of Autism
Under Public Law 101-476 of the IDEA, autism was added as a separate category of disability. IDEA provided a definition of autism: "A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. -
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Vaccine-Autism theories are debunked
(CAUSE): During this time span, vaccine manufacturers were being scrutinized by the public with claims of certain vaccines causing autism. The theory that measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism was debunked. Vaccine manufacturers eventually removed thimerosal from their routinely childhood vaccines due to false claims and fear. -
Autism Identification Increase
According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 110 children have ASD which is an increase from 1 in 150. This may be due to the improved screening and diagnostic techniques.
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