In 1943 ;
Donald T. was not like other 5-year-old boys.
Leo Kanner knew that the moment he read the 33-page letter from Donaldʼs father that described the boy in obsessive detail as “happiest when he was alone… drawing into a shell and living within himself… oblivious to everything around him.” Donald had a mania for spinning toys, liked to shake his head from side to side and spin himself around in circles, and he had temper tantrums when his routine was disrupted.
When Kanner met Donald, his suspicions were confirmed. In addition to the symptoms the letter described, Kanner noted Donaldʼs explosive, seemingly irrelevant use of words. Donald referred to himself in the third person, repeated words and phrases spoken to him, and communicated his own desires by attributing them to others.
Kanner did not consider infantile autism an early form or prodrome of schizophrenia. The clinical signs were not identical and, unlike schizophrenia, Kannerʼs patients seemed to have autism from birth.
Thus, autism was defined for the first time in history!!
From that time till now all over the world countless scientist are seeking for the reason of autism.
Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact reason. We know that there is no one cause of autism. Researchers suggest that autism depends on a combination of genetic, nongenetic and environmental conditions.
Although we are not sure about the cause of autism, we learned “What to do with autism” in this time.
While research on autism continues, the rate of autism continues to change.
The number of children known as autism has increased since 1980’s.
Around one in 100 changed into, one in 54 lately.
Depending on my experiences I can easily say that “the symptoms of autism changed in time too. 20 years ago, the number of children diagnosed with autism was fewer than today, but the symptoms were significantly more severe. Nowadays the number of the children diagnosed with autism is much more than 2000’s, but the symptoms are definitely milder. “
I have been working in the field of Special Education since I graduated from Hacettepe University, Department of Psychology in 2001. I have a wide experience in Individual Education Responsibility Group Training Responsibility Education Coordinator Institution Founding I have a lot of long time experience in the Special Education Field, including the Director of the Institution.
