Abstract
The author describes his Form E-2 checklist method for the diagnosis of early infantile autism and differentiation of other childhood psychoses. Data on 2,218 psychotic children, 1,652 boys and 556 girls, are presented. The checklists showed 9.7% of the children to have early infantile autism, thus providing a confirmation of Kanner's 1962 estimate that only 10% of his patients called “autistic” by others were correctly diagnosed. Also presented are data showing that among 445 psychotic children seen by two different diagnosticians, only 55 had been assigned the same diagnosis twice. Laboratory studies and other sources are cited to show that Form E-2 is effective in differentiating truly autistic from autistic-type children. Other aspects of the problem of diagnosing psychotic children are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bettelheim, B.The empty fortress. New York: The Free Press, 1967.
Boullin, D. J., Coleman, M., O'Brien, R. A., & Rimland, B. Laboratory predictions of infantile autism, based on 5-hydroxytryptamine efflux from blood platelets and their correlation with the Rimland E-2 score.Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1971,1, 63–71.
Cameron, J. R. Background variables related to the various forms of childhood autism. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1969.
Douglas, V. I., & Sanders, F. A. A. pilot study of Rimland's Diagnostic Check List with autistic and mentally retarded children.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1968,9, 105–109.
Judd, L. J., & Mandell, A. J. Chromosome studies in early infantile autism.Archives of General Psychiatry, 1968,18, 450–57.
Kanner, L. Autistic disturbances of affective contact.Nervous Child, 1943,2, 217–250.
Kanner, L. The specificity of early infantile autism.Zeitschrift für Kinderpsychiatrie, 1958,25, 108–113. (a)
Kanner, L. History and present status of childhood schizophrenia in the USA.Zeitschrift für Kinderpsychiatrie, 1958,25, 138–149. (b)
Lotter, V. Epidemiology of autistic conditions in young children. II. Some characteristics of the parents and children.Social Psychiatry, 1967,1, 163–173.
Lowe, L. H. Families of children with early childhood schizophrenia: Selected demographic information.Archives of General Psychiatry, 1966,14, 26–30.
Rimland, B.Infantile autism. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1964.
Rimland, B. On the objective diagnosis of infantile autism.Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 1968,35, 146–161.
Rimland, B. The effect of high dosage levels of certain vitamins on the behavior of children with severe mental disorders. In D. R. Hawkins and L. Pauling (Eds.),Orthomolecular psychiatry. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1971, in press.
Treffert, D. A. Epidemiology of infantile autism.Archives of General Psychiatry, 1970,22, 431–438.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was initiated during the author's residence as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California. Partial support has since been provided by the Wilkie Brothers Foundation, NIMH Grants MN-17774-01 and MH-15594-01, and by friends and families of the afflicted children.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rimland, B. The differentiation of childhood psychoses: An analysis of checklists for 2,218 psychotic children. J Autism Dev Disord 1, 161–174 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537955
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537955