when was autism discovered?

Autism, as a distinct condition, was first described by Austrian-American psychiatrist Leo Kanner in 1943. Before this, the term "autism" was introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1911, but he used it to describe a symptom of schizophrenia, not as a separate condition. Early observations of autism-like behaviors date back even further, such as the case documented in 1799 by French physician Jean Itard and descriptions of children with autistic traits by Grunya Sukhareva in the 1920s. Kanner's 1943 paper described children with difficulties in communication, social interactions, and repetitive behaviors, which he termed "early infantile autism." Around the same time, Hans Asperger described a related but milder form, later known as Asperger's Syndrome. The understanding and formal diagnosis of autism evolved over the 20th century, with autism becoming officially recognized as a separate diagnosis in the DSM-III in 1980. The concept of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), encompassing various forms including Asperger's, was introduced in the DSM-5 in 2013.