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Italy and Autism

Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Historical Background

In Italy, interest in early onset mental disorders dates back to the influential work of Sante De Sanctis (1862–1935). In 1905, he described a condition defined as “dementia praecox prepuberalis” (childhood-onset dementia), which was characterized by early emerging symptoms that we would now recognize as autistic features (Feinstein 2011). In 1898, he founded a scientific organization for the care of children with mental disabilities (Associazione Romana per la cura medico-pedagogica dei fanciulli anormali) together with Maria Montessori (1870–1952), a pioneer in child psychology and pedagogy. Maria Montessori’s work focused on the role of education in the promotion of mental health in children with and without mental disability. She developed an educational method (Montessori method), which would eventually spread all over in the world, and came to international prominence as an advocate for education for mentally disabled children.

However, Montessori’s...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, 3086, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Giacomo Vivanti

  2. European Disability Forum, Brussels, 1000, Belgium

    Donata Pagetti Vivanti

Authors
  1. Giacomo Vivanti
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  2. Donata Pagetti Vivanti
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Correspondence to Giacomo Vivanti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Vivanti, G., Vivanti, D.P. (2015). Italy and Autism. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102028-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102028-3

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Italy and Autism
    Published:
    24 December 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102028-4

  2. Original

    Italy and Autism
    Published:
    12 May 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102028-3

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