Home > Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders > Autism

Definition

Autism is a behavior disorder, characterized by an impairment in social communication, social interaction, and social imagination. Those with autism often have a restricted range of interests and display repetitive behaviors and mannerisms, along with altered reactions to the everyday environment.

Description

In 1943, the American physician Leo Kanner published his seminal paper, in which he described 11 children who were socially isolated, with "autistic disturbances of affective contact," impaired communication, and behavioral inflexibility. He coined the term "infantile autism" and discussed the causes in terms of biological processes, although at that time, most scientific attention was focused on analytical theories of the disorder. Kanner's paper did not initially receive much scientific credit, and children with autistic symptoms continued to be incorrectly diagnosed with childhood