The label 'psychotic' was soon replaced by 'autistic. ' But from the start it meant that specialists recognized that some children with disabilities were different from others. This was not immediately obvious, as they all had more or less severe intellectual impairments.
When Bleuler had coined the term 'autism' in 1911, he attributed its etymological roots to Freud, and ultimately Havelock Ellis, through the term 'autoerotism' (Bleuler, 1950[1911]; McGuire, 1974: 172–9).
Early descriptions of autistic symptoms
In 1877, British doctor John Down used the term developmental retardation to describe conditions including what would be considered autism today. Also in 1877, German doctor Adolf Kussmaul defined the condition aphasia voluntaria - when people choose not to speak.
At the time, treatment for autism was very limited. Most of these children were placed in institutions, far from the public eye, to live out their lives. Professionals commonly held the view that “refrigerator mothers” were responsible for the symptoms observed in these children.
Autism was originally described as a form of childhood schizophrenia and the result of cold parenting, then as a set of related developmental disorders, and finally as a spectrum condition with wide-ranging degrees of impairment. Along with these shifting views, its diagnostic criteria have changed as well.
In 1980, "infantile autism" was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and separated from childhood schizophrenia. By the late 1980s, the term in the DSM was changed to autism disorder and included a checklist of symptoms for diagnosing autism.
A growing understanding of autism
In 1989, the first children in South Australia to be recognised as having Asperger syndrome were diagnosed by Autism SA.
The symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome are now included in a condition called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD is now the name used for a wide range of autism-like disorders. Some providers may still use the term Asperger's Syndrome, but others will say “ASD – without intellectual or language impairment.”
Dr Evans says: “During the 1960s, the meaning of the word autism was turned on its head. Autistic children came to be regarded as having unique 'impairments of imagination, social interaction, and communication' that required new educational methods and rights. This theory of autism was dominant for many years.”
Advances in diagnostic capabilities and greater understanding and awareness of autism spectrum disorder seem to be largely driving the increase, the Rutgers researchers said. But there's probably more to the story: Genetic factors, and perhaps some environmental ones, too, might also be contributing to the trend.
Inheritance. ASD has a tendency to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown. People with gene changes associated with ASD generally inherit an increased risk of developing the condition, rather than the condition itself.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Some people with ASD have a known difference, such as a genetic condition. Other causes are not yet known. Scientists believe there are multiple causes of ASD that act together to change the most common ways people develop.
In 1943, Leo Kanner published the first systematic description of early infantile autism. He concluded that this was a neurodevelopmental disorder and that 'these children have come into the world with an innate inability to form the usual, biologically provided contact with people'.
In the 1970s, there was an increased infatuation with finding out who was to blame for children having autism. Two studies in particular, one in 1974 and another in 1977, point to the fact that this decade––the 1970s––was especially interested in finding different parties and places to blame for autism.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)
Autism was widely thought to be a behavioral disorder until the late 1970's, and so treatments up until that point attempted to correct behavior. Behavior therapies included aversive punishment, in which a child is punished for bad behavior.
The reason behind the reclassification of Asperger's syndrome was its similarity to autism, and the fact that it was distinguished from the latter based simply on a lack of language and cognitive delay — which, interestingly, isn't something every individual on the spectrum experiences.
ADHD is not on the autism spectrum, but they have some of the same symptoms. And having one of these conditions increases the chances of having the other. Experts have changed the way they think about how autism and ADHD are related.
The fear of losing benefits to services and access to mental health weighed among many people and families. Individuals previously diagnosed felt it was not right to place those with Asperger Syndrome under the umbrella of ASD.
Increased availability of services.
Over the years, services for autism have become more readily available. The availability of services has encouraged more people to seek a diagnosis in order to gain access to these services.
It is a disability that is considered to be on a spectrum – meaning no two individuals with ASD are alike and there is a range of severity and characteristics displayed by each person with an ASD diagnosis.
Centrelink. Centrelink, managed by the Australian Government Department of Human Services, delivers a range of payments for children or adults with autism, or caring for people with autism.