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The word "autism" was first used in the English language by Swiss psychiatrist Eugene Bleuler in a 1912 issue of the American Journal of Insanity. It comes from the Greek word for "self," ????? (autos). Autism was actually confused with schizophrenia during the early stages of observation. Bleuler used the term to describe the schizophrenics' seeming difficulty in connecting with other people.
However, the classification of autism as a separate disorder or disease did not occur until 1943 when psychiatrist Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore reported on 11 child patients with striking behavioral similarities and introduced the label "early infantile autism." He suggested the term "autism" to describe the fact that the children seemed to lack interest in other people. Kanner's first paper on the subject was published in a now defunct journal called The Nervous Child, and almost every characteristic he originally described is still regarded as typical of the autistic spectrum of disorders.
At the same time, an Austrian scientist named Dr. Hans Asperger made similar observations, although his name has since become attached to a different higher-functioning form of autism known as Asperger syndrome. Widespread recognition of Asperger's work was delayed by World War II in Germany, and by his seminal paper not being translated into English for almost 50 years. The majority of his work was not widely read until 1997.
Autism and Asperger syndrome are today listed in the DSM-IV-TR as two of the five pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which also include Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (or atypical autism). Health care providers also refer to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) which includes only three of those listed in PDD: Autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. All of these conditions are characterized by varying degrees of deficiencies in communication skills and social interactions, along with restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior.
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