Psychology 2043A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Leo Kanner, Asperger Syndrome, 18 Months

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2043A/B
• Professor: Smits-Bandstra

Document Summary

Autism was first brought to our attention by leo kanner (1943) He described a group of children who did not relate to others, had delays in speech development, engaged in repetitive behavior, were upset by changes in routines, and so forth. Michael rutter found three characteristics that almost always were present in the children with autism but only occasionally in children with emotional disorders: failure to develop social relationships, language retardation with impaired comprehension, ritualistic or compulsive behaviors. Autism spectrum disorders are a variety (or spectrum) of related disorders that affect a (cid:272)hild"s so(cid:272)ial de(cid:448)elop(cid:373)e(cid:374)t a(cid:374)d a(cid:271)ility to (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)u(cid:374)i(cid:272)ate a(cid:374)d that i(cid:374)(cid:272)lude u(cid:374)usual behavioral manifestations such as repetitive motor movements. Included in the category of autism spectrum disorders are: rett syndrome. One line of evidence for a genetic cause for autism lies in the observation that autism appears to run in families. A complex collection of genes and environmental interactions appear to be implicated.