Evolution of Autism: From Kanner to the DSM-V

Abstract

Leo Kanner was a man who possessed the truly rare gift of being able to step back and see the big picture. At the time when his initial case series was published in 1943, the children Kanner described would have been diagnosed with childhood onset schizophrenia. At that time, children with severe psychiatric illness were frequently placed into this single, all-encompassing diagnostic category. However, Kanner recognized several distinguishing characteristics of these children which made them different from those with schizophrenia. He identified the disorder impacting this group of children as 'autistic disturbances' and proposed a new diagnostic category. In his observations of a unique psychiatric disorder. Dr. Kanner saw a forest while others before had seen only trees. In the nearly 70 years since Kanner's first description of autistic disorder (autism), we have seen this diagnosis evolve considerably. This chapter will review the history of the diagnosis of autistic disorder. We will discuss the evolution of the diagnosis of autism from Kanner's work and through the various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), with some speculation on the much anticipated fifth edition. Current terminology will be discussed from a historical perspective including the relatively new terms 'Classic Autism,' 'Atypical Autism,' and 'High Functioning Autism.' Finally, a general outline is provided for use in diagnosing individuals suspected to have an autism spectrum disorder (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) TS - RIS