Where did Autism Come From?
Have you ever wondered where autism came from? Is it something that just happens? Is it genetic? Is it something I can get from someone else?
The truth is, autism has been around since the early 1900s. The term was first used by Swiss Psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler when he was researching schizophrenia in adults and noticed young children who seemed to be detached from reality and lived in a world of their own.
The term later became more well known when Austrian American Psychiatrist, Leo Kanner, use the term in 1943 in a paper referring to it as a neurological disorder and referencing a group of children who struggled with communicating, lack of social skills and exhibited repetitive behaviors such as hand movements.
Kanner also coined the term “refrigerator mother” as the reasoning the children’s symptoms. He believed that these children were the way they were because their mom’s didn’t love them enough or show them enough affection when they were younger. Talk about mom guilt in overdrive!
This theory or reasoning for autism was debunked by Bernard Rimland, the founder of Autism Research Institute who studied the theory in the 1960s and 1970s and shifted research from parenting styles as the cause of autism.
Around the same time Kanner was conducting his research, Hans Asperger (only known in German speaking countries) was doing a similar study on individuals who struggled with specific social deficits only. This is where the term “Asperger’s Syndrome” was born. It wasn’t until several years later the two diagnosis and terms would be connected.
In the 1960s, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, second edition, (DSM-II) noted autism as a psychiatric disorder, stating it was a form of childhood schizophrenia. It wasn’t until the 3rd version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) published in 1980 separated autism as its own “pervasive development disorder” which separated it from the previous link to childhood schizophrenia.
The DSM-III made a big shift in the diagnostic criteria for autism, identifying and listing very specific criteria surrounding lack of interest in others, severe delays in communication with odd behaviors, all developing in the first 30 months of life. This was again revised in 1987, allowing for diagnosis for more mild levels of autism and discontinued the requirement of the onset of the criteria to happen prior to 30 months.
These revisions were released in 1994 as a part of the DSM-IV, and this also looped Asperger’s into the autism diagnosis criteria as well. The Autism diagnosis now included autism, Asperger’s, and PPD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified).
Today, we follow the autism diagnosis criteria that were released in May of 2013 in the DSM-V. In this updated version the autism diagnosis was shifted from being called autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, or PDD-NOS to just autism. It then shifted to providing individuals with an autism diagnosis with a level. Since then, any individual with an autism diagnosis has a level associated with their diagnosis. The levels are noted as:
Level 1 Autism: Requires Support
Level 2 Autism: Requires Substantial Support
Level 3 Autism: Requires Very Substantial Support
These levels can drive type, intensity, and access to supports and services based on the individual. Individuals can also receive updated diagnosis that move them from one level to the next, but typically an individual never “loses” their diagnosis, but rather can overcome the symptoms associated with the diagnosis.
If you or someone you know has recently received a diagnosis and aren’t sure where to begin, let’s chat. I would be happy to help navigate the first steps of diagnosis!
