Autism-History

        Likely, people with the Autism Spectrum have always existed throughout history. From Albert Einstein to Ludwig Van Beethoven, many accounts of these famous historical figures seem to portray that they exhibited Autistic traits. A Frenchman named Itard wrote an account of a boy, titled the �Wild Boy of Averyon,� in 1801, describing the boy�s absence of direct communication and his self-absorption, which today would be seen as trademark of certain types of Autism. The term Autism- from the Greek word for self, �autos�, is believed to have first been introduced around 1911 by the prominent psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, from Switzerland, who utilized the term to classify the schizophrenic individuals that excluded reality and withdrew from our society as well as displaying the more typical traits of schizophrenics. Bleuler also coined the term schizophrenia, which was in the past often confused with what is now called Autism.

        However, the pioneers in describing Autism were Dr. Leo Kanner of John Hopkin�s University in Baltimore, Maryland, and Dr. Hans Asperger, of Vienna, Austria. They both published famous papers describing Autism- Kanner in 1943 and Asperger in 1944, but did so independently of each other. However, Asperger�s paper is sometimes regarded as a description of Asperger�s syndrome because his definition of autism included a wider range of severity in symptoms. They both based their discoveries on children they observed that had some common characteristics that were unusual in other children, chiefly that the children seemed to have difficulty in creating and sustaining typical affective relationships with others.

        Throughout the 1950s to the 1960s, Autism was thought to be schizophrenia or a psychological disturbance as a result of �refrigerator mothers�- parents who showed so little affection and care towards their children they did not bond with them, causing the children to become mentally isolated from our society. This theory was a result of Bruno Bettelheim�s observations and ideas. A Hungarian who emigrated to the United States, he ran the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School in Chicago. Though Bettelheim�s theories were internationally accepted for more than two decades, they are now known to be seriously flawed and much of Bettelheim's "expertise" may have been exaggerated greatly, as he actually was not qualified enough to run a school or publish theories concerning the causes of autism. Indeed, his theories have long been by proven absolutely wrong by numerous studies and observations.

        Dr. Bernard Rimland and Dr. Eric Schopler first challenged Bettleheim�s theories in the medical community. In 1964, Dr. Bernard Rimland published his book, Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior, in which he argued that contrary to the beliefs of the time, Autism was caused by biological factors and was not an emotional illness. Specifically, Rimland cited evidence such as most siblings of Autistics are considered normal, and there are Autistics who are behaviorally unusual from birth, thus dispelling the belief that uncaring parents were the cause of Autism. Rimland�s book greatly altered the way in which Autism was viewed and paved the way for the studies on Autism and the search for treatments for Autism.

        In 1991, Drs. Catherine Lord, Michael Rutter and Ann LeCouteur released the Autism Diagnostic Interview and the American Psychiatric Association published the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) in 1992, which clarified diagnostic criteria for autism. In 1993, the World Health Organization published a similar diagnostic manual for Autistic disorder known as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

        Despite that through the years, much research has been done regarding the causes of Autism and possible treatments for Autism, Autism remains a mystery to the world.


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