Autism as a concept and diagnosis began to take form in the early 20th century. The term "autism" was first coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1911 to describe a symptom of schizophrenia. However, it was not recognized as a separate developmental disorder until the 1940s. In 1943, Leo Kanner, an American child psychiatrist, described a group of children with unique behaviors and coined the term "early infantile autism." Around the same time, Hans Asperger studied children with similar traits, describing what came to be known as Asperger syndrome. Autism was then formally recognized as distinct from schizophrenia in the late 20th century, with the concept evolving into the autism spectrum understood today.
Early cases resembling autism were documented even earlier, such as an account from 1799 by French physician Jean Itard, who described a boy with communication challenges, but the formal term and diagnostic understanding arose much later.
