Autism : from Leo Kanner to ICD-11 and DSM-5

Abstract EN

Autism, now called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder that presents in early life and affects both genders, all races and all regions of the globe.

Since its early recognition by Leo Kanner in 1943, autism has received enormous attention from researchers, and understandable concern from parents and caregivers.

However, since that year and until the present day, controversies continue around its nosology, nature, causation, diagnosis, and management.

The terminology is still changing.

New hypotheses are continuously developing, and yet no consensus about its management has been achieved.

Advances in neuroscience and progress in genetic studies raise hopes of finding biomarkers that may explain its pathophysiology, develop more solid clinical diagnostic criteria, and provide more effective therapeutic approaches.

Until such development arises, much of the current knowledge of autism remains controversial.

The current paper provides an overview covering the evolution of the nosology and other parameters of autism since its first delineation by Kanner, the founder of child psychiatry in the United States.

The paper also aims to better understand how autism is recognized and defined within the many editions and revisions of the popular classification systems of mental disorders namely, the American Psychiatric Society (APA), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), particularly the chapters on mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders.