Autism as a distinct condition was first described by Austrian-American psychiatrist Leo Kanner in 1943. He published a paper outlining a group of children with "early infantile autism," characterized by difficulties in communication, a desire for sameness, and unique intellectual abilities. Around the same time, in 1944, Hans Asperger described a milder form of autism now known as Asperger's Syndrome. The term "autism" itself was first used in 1911 by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, but initially in the context of schizophrenia, not as a separate disorder. Autism diagnosis evolved over decades, becoming more refined, and was formally recognized in diagnostic manuals in the 1980s and 1990s.
Key timeline points:
- 1911: Term "autism" coined by Eugen Bleuler referring to a symptom of schizophrenia.
- 1920s: Early descriptions of autistic traits by Grunya Sukhareva.
- 1943: Leo Kanner first describes autism as a distinct condition.
- 1944: Hans Asperger describes a related syndrome.
- 1980s: Autism officially separated from schizophrenia in DSM-III and recognized as its own disorder.
- 1994: Asperger syndrome added to DSM as part of the autism spectrum.
Thus, autism was "discovered" or first identified as a unique condition in 1943 by Leo Kanner.