when was autism diagnosed

Autism was first described as a distinct condition by Austrian-American psychiatrist Leo Kanner in 1943. He characterized children with traits now recognized as autistic, such as a desire for sameness and delayed echolalia. Before that, the term "autism" was introduced by Eugen Bleuler in 1911, but it was used to describe a symptom of schizophrenia rather than a separate condition. Autism was initially viewed as a psychiatric disorder and was even considered a form of childhood schizophrenia into the mid-20th century. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) first included "infantile autism" as a diagnosis in 1980 with the DSM-III, distinguishing it more clearly from childhood schizophrenia. Since then, the understanding and diagnostic criteria for autism have evolved markedly, leading to its identification today as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which was consolidated into a single diagnosis in DSM-5 in 2013.