'Early childhood autism, Asperger type', by H. Asperger (1982)

Hist Psychiatry. 2024 Sep;35(3-4):363-376. doi: 10.1177/0957154X241248261. Epub 2024 Apr 28.

Abstract

After his 1944 thesis, Asperger continued to write about autism, but none of these texts have been translated. At a time when autism spectrum disorder faces many challenges (e.g. the nature and measurement of autism), this text tells us more about the particular population that Asperger worked with. He describes sensitive, intelligent, creative and rational children, a far cry from the Wing triad. Moreover, 'Asperger's Syndrome' was introduced after he had died, was included in the DSM-IV in 1994 and was omitted from the DSM-5 in 2013. The question posed by this last text, written before his death, is whether Asperger's descriptions of autistic children are really part of the autism spectrum disorder or whether they are outside the pathological field.

Keywords: Asperger; autism spectrum disorder; children; neurodiversity; syndrome.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Asperger Syndrome* / history
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder / history
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans