Abstract
Leo Kanner begins his landmark 1943 case series on autistic children by stating the condition was first brought to his attention in 1938. Recent letters to JADD have described this reference as “mysterious” and speculated it refers to papers published that year by Despert or Asperger. In fact, as Kanner goes on to state, 1938 is when he examined the first child in his case series. An exchange of letters with Despert and later writing by Kanner also point to the originality of his observations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fellowes, S. (2015). Did Kanner actually describe the first account of autism? The mystery of 1938. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Published on-line, February 5, 2015.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. The Nervous Child, 2(2), 217–250.
Kanner, L. (1971). Follow-up study of 11 autistic children originally reported in 1943. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1, 119–145.
Lay, R. A. Q. (1938). Schizophrenia-like psychoses in young children. Journal of Mental Science, 84, 105–133.
Leo Kanner letter to Ernest Harms, January 19, 1942, in APA archives.
Leo Kanner to Louise Despert, July 15, 1943, letter, APA archives.
Louise Despert to Leo Kanner, July 12, 1943, letter, APA archives.
Louise Despert to Leo Kanner, undated letter, APA archives.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olmsted, D., Blaxill, M. Leo Kanner’s Mention of 1938 in His Report on Autism Refers to His First Patient. J Autism Dev Disord 46, 340–341 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2541-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2541-3