History of Autism

Adam Feinstein is the editor of two autism-related websites, AutismConnect (www.autismconnect.org.uk) and Awares (www.awares.org), both run by Autism Cymru, Wales?s national charity for autism. He also runs the acclaimed annual Awares international online autism conference. He writes extensively on autism for a range of publications, including The Guardian, broadcasts for the BBC, and gives talks at conferences around the world. He is the founder and editor of Looking Up , the monthly international autism newsletter (www.lookingupautism.org), and has contributed to the UK Medical Research Council?s Autism Review. His much praised biography of the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life , was published in 2004. He has a son with autism.

Acknowledgments ix Foreword by Dame Stephanie Shirley xv Introduction 1 1 The Two Great Pioneers 9 2 The 1950s: The Seeds of Understanding 37 3 Blaming the Parents 54 4 The 1960s: The Parents Fight Back 76 5 The Two Teaching Pioneers 117 6 The 1970s: Major Steps Forward 139 7 Definition, Diagnosis, and Assessment: The History of the Tool 165 8 The 1980s and 1990s: Theories and Concepts 203 9 Autism in the Developing Nations 233 10 Where the Future Lies 265 Notes 298 Bibliography 339 Index 367