HANS ASPERGER

Coincidentally, Hans Asperger (1906-1980), a doctor from Vienna specialising in paediatrics, was conducting research into autism at about the same time as Leo Kanner. His medical work brought him in contact with some boys who found it difficult to ‘fit in’ socially.

The boys also had additional difficulties with the social use of language, and a limited ability to use and understand gesture and facial expression. Also evident were repetitive, stereotypical behaviours, often with ‘abnormal fixations’ on certain objects.

Having noted the similarities in the behaviour of a number of these boys, Asperger wrote and presented his paper ‘Autistic psychopathies in childhood’ (1944). Asperger’s paper was written in German towards the end of World War II and for this reason reached only a limited readership. It was only in the early 1980s, when it was translated into English and referred to by Lorna Wing in her own research on autism, that the paper became widely accessible. It was felt that the term ‘Autistic psychopathy’ sounded too negative, and ‘Asperger syndrome’ was suggested as a more acceptable alternative.