Autism was first recorded as a distinct medical condition in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner, an Austrian-American psychiatrist. He described it in a seminal paper titled "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact," based on his study of 11 children displaying extreme social withdrawal, delayed speech, repetitive behaviors, and strong attachments to routines. This is considered the first formal diagnosis of autism as an independent condition, which he termed "early infantile autism".
Before this, the term "autism" was used by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1911, but only to describe a symptom seen in schizophrenia, not as a separate disorder.
There were earlier observations of autism-like behaviors dating back to the early 1800s, such as the 1801 case described by Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard of "Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron," but these did not classify autism as a distinct medical diagnosis.
Donald Triplett, often referred to as "Case 1," was one of the first individuals diagnosed by Kanner with autism in his 1943 study.
In summary, autism was first medically recorded and described as a distinct condition in 1943 by Leo Kanner. The concept and term were used earlier but in different contexts not recognizing autism as a unique disorder.
