Recognising that psychiatry, as a field of study, has had a short history - and child psychiatry an even shorter one, we know that autism, although only recently described, probably existed long ago in historic times as well.

In "Autism – Explaining the Enigma", author Uta Frith mentions the "Blessed Fools" of Russia, who had apparent insensitivity to pain, bizarre behaviour, innocence, and lack of social awareness. These behaviours suggest that they may have had ASD. She also talks about Victor, ‘the Wild Boy of Aveyron’ a well-documented case of the early 1800s.

In January 1801, Victor, then about twelve, was placed in the care of French doctor, Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard. The child’s behaviour was very strange and he was mute. Itard thought this was because he had been isolated from humans at a young age. [Victor was first seen in 1799(?), naked and living on wild fruits and vegetables. He had a thick scar across his throat suggesting that someone had tried to kill him. It seems likely that he was separated from, or abandoned by his parents, probably due to the harsh conditions following the French Revolution and the difficulties of managing his condition.]

Philippe Pinel, another eminent doctor of the time, disagreed with Itard. He believed that the boy had had severe generalised learning difficulties from birth. Later on, Itard’s papers on Victor were collected and published in the book, "The Wild Boy of Aveyron" by Harlan Lane, a psychologist specialising in the study of speech, hearing and language.

In "The Autistic Spectrum – A Guide for Parents and Professionals", eminent autism researcher, Lorna Wing, notes "All the stories of [Victor’s] behaviour would be familiar to any parent of a child with typical autism today, despite the time difference of nearly two centuries."

From Itard’s accounts, we learn that Victor never learnt to speak…when he wanted to ride in a wheelbarrow, he would pull someone by the arm, put the wheelbarrow handles in their hands, then climb in and wait to be pushed. Itard spent hours trying to teach Victor how to play with all kinds of toys, but Victor got so impatient, he would destroy them if left alone with them. Of note, Victor had a ‘decided taste for order’ and would be unhappy until he could return an object to its proper place.

Lorna Wing also cites this tale about Brother Juniper: "My favourite is Brother Juniper, from a collection of legends concerning the early followers of St Francis. One example of many stories of this endearing character recounts an incident while he was on a pilgrimage. The citizens of Rome came to welcome him but he ignored them. His attention was taken by a see-saw and he continued to use this long after the amazed crowd had returned home. The stories about his illustrate his complete inability to understand social situations and the feelings of affection mixed with exasperation that he produced in the other brothers."

In "Autism - an introduction to psychological theory", Francesca Happé shares two folktales, one from India, one from Malta.

From Folktales of India, Kang & Kang 1988 -
"INDIA - One time Sheikh Chilli was hotly in love with a girl, and he said to his mother: ‘What is the best way of making a girl fond of one?’ Said his mother: ‘The best plan is to sit by the well, and when she comes to draw water, just throw pebble at her and smile.’

The Sheikh went to the well, and when the girl appeared, he flung a big stone at her and broke her head. All the people turned out and were going to murder him, but when he explained matters, they agreed he was the biggest fool in the world."

From Folktales from Australia’s children of the world, Smith 1979 –

"MALTA – In a village there lived a boy called Gahan. It was Sunday and Gahan’s mother wanted to go to church early. But Gahan didn’t like getting up in the mornings, so he said he would stay in bed. When his mother was ready to go, she came into Gahan’s room.

‘I’m off to church now,’ she said. ‘When you get up, if you decide to come to the church, be sure and pull the door behind you.’

‘Don’t worry, mother,’ said Gahan, ‘I won’t forget.’

After a while, Gahan climbed out of bed, washed and dressed and was just about to leave when he remembered what his mother had said. He opened the front door, pulled it down, held it by the knocker and began to pull it along behind him.

…You can imagine how all the people laughed when they saw Gahan walking along the street dragging the door behind him. When he arrived at the church he walked straight in. But he made such a banging and clattering noise that everyone turned to see what was happening. They, too, thought that it was very funny, but Gahan’s poor mother was very embarrassed.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ she asked.

‘Well, mother,’ answered Gahan, ‘you asked me to pull the door behind me if I left the house, didn’t you?’

Happé writes, "These tales suggest that the odd behaviour and naivety of the person with autism have been recognised in many different cultures. It is interesting that the subjects of this sort of folktale are almost always male; autism is more than twice as common among men as among women."

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