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Dr. John Langdon Down is the first discover Down Syndrome and label it as mental retardation. It is under this term that Autism was originally categorized ("History of Autism, 2017).
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Eugene Beuler used autism to describe a symptom of Schizophrenia ("History of Autism, 2017).
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Eugène Minkowski, a student of Bleuler, further defined autism as the "trouble generator" of schizophrenia ("History of Autism", 2017).
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1943 Leo Kanner in the United States conducted a study on a group of children with social and emotional limitations that also demonstrated withdrawn behavior and starts the first scientific study of Autism (Thompson, 2013).
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Hans Asperger in Germany conducted research on children with similar characteristics of Autism in social aspects but was stronger in language skills and higher understanding of highly technical disorders. This is called Asperger's Syndrome ("History of Autism, 2017).
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During the 1950's and the 1960's, Bruno Bettleheim claimed that Autism was an emotional disorder that is brought on by psychological harm inflicted by the child's mother. This harm is usually represented as the mother not making a connection to the child ("History of Autism, 2017).
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Autism Society of American formed by parents with children with Autism. Its goal is to increase awareness, advocate or appropriate services and help provided the latest information of research ("History of Autism, 2017).
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During the 1970's and 1980's, students identified as Autistic were placed in classroom with students with severe intellectual disabilities or emotional disturbances. Other cases show that students were put into institutions and remained there through their adult lives (Thompson, 2013).
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A study published in 1973 realized that psychotherapy was not helpful for people with Autism and it is identified as a genetic disorder (Thompson, 2013).
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The DSM-III distinguishes Autism from childhood schizophrenia (Baker, 2013).
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Autistic Disorder replaces the term of Infantile Autism in the manual and gives more of an explanation of the diagnosis ("History of Autism, 2017).
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An updated version of the DSM-IIIR has a new checklist of criteria for diagnosing Autism (Baker, 2013).
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is updated to accept autism and schools begin to identify and serve students with Autism ("History of Autism, 2017).
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The DSM-IV added Asperger syndrome as a form of Autism (Baker, 2013).
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Founded by parents and is the first organization dedicated to funding biomedical research focusing on ASD in the U.S. ("History of Autism", 2017).
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Autism Speaks is founded and provides funds for research, increases awareness, and advocates for individuals and their families ("History of Autism, 2017).
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The DSM-V folds all subcategories together to create the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is defined as two categories: impaired social communication and interaction and restricted/repetitive behaviors (Baker, 2013).