What Are Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Not until the middle of the twentieth century was there a name for a disorder that now appears to affect an estimated one of every five hundred children, a disorder that causes disruption in families and unfulfilled lives for many children.
In 1943, Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital studied a group of 11 children and introduced the label "early infantile
autism" into the English language. At the same time a German scientist, Dr. Hans
Asperger, described a milder form of the disorder that became known as
Asperger syndrome.
Thus these two disorders were described and are today listed in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [
DSM-IV-TR (fourth edition, text revision)] as two of the five
pervasive developmental disorders (
PDD), more often referred to today as autism spectrum disorders.
All these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior.
If a child has symptoms of either of these disorders, but does not meet the specific criteria for either, the diagnosis is called pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).
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