A Brief History of Autism

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The term autism was first used by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908. He used it to describe one of his patients that had schizophrenia. He used it to describe his patient who had withdrawn into his own world. The pioneers of the study of ASDs were Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger. They both worked separately and studied different children. In their research, both of their studies showed that the children that they were studying showed similar characteristics. Both Kanner’s and Asperger’s children had problems in social activity and were different from normal children in terms of fine motor skills. (Mandal)
What is Autism? Autism spectrum disorder is a broad term for many diseases, one of them being autism, that affect how a kid thinks, interacts, learns, plays, and how he/she imagines. The literal term of Autism is “ . . . a group of biologically based neurodevelopmental disorders that affect a child’s behavior and social and communication skills” (Rosenblatt, Carbone, Yu 5). Some of the diseases related to
As I mentioned before, it is very hard to tell whether a kid has an ASD. I will give some examples of a kid that has an ASD. A typical child will turn his head when he/she hears their name. A child with an ASD might not turn or look at all even though you have called his/her name several times, but will respond to other sounds. A child without an ASD brings a picture to show to his mom and shares his joy from it with her. A child with an ASD might bring his/her mom a bottle of bubbles but doesn’t even look at his/her mom when he gives it and doesn’t share the pleasure of playing together. Also, a kid with delayed speech will point or use a facial gesture. A with an ASD will not do anything to make up for that delayed speech. (Ro...

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...e about the disease, we will be able to understand the kids with autism more and more. When we understand autism there are going to be more than 1 million kids that we will we able to understand. (Alan, Paul, Winnie 155)

Works Cited

Barnett, Kristine. The spark: a mother's story of nurturing genius. New York: Random House, 2013. Print.
Mandal, Dr Ananya . "Autism History." Autism History. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. .
Rosenblatt, Alan I., Paul S. Carbone, and Winnie Yu. Autism spectrum disorders: what every parent needs to know. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013. Print.
Wiseman, Nancy D.. The first year: autism spectrum disorders : an essential guide for the newly diagnosed child. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Life Long, 2009. Print.

Faulkner, Pam. Personal Interview. 4 Apr. 2014.

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