Classical Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Early Childhood Schizophrenia?

What's in a name?

The term autism used to refer to "classical autism" defined by Leo Kanner.



Asperger's was defined by Hans Asperger.

Asperger syndrome
Asperger published the first definition of Asperger syndrome in 1944. In four boys, he identified a pattern of behavior and abilities that he called "autistic psychopathy", meaning autism (self) and psychopathy (personality disease). The pattern included "a lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements." Asperger called children with AS "little professors" because of their ability to talk about their favorite subject in great detail. It is commonly said that the paper was based on only four boys. However, Dr. Günter Krämer, of Zürich, who knew Asperger, states that it "was based on investigations of more than 400 children".

Asperger was convinced that many of the children he identified as having autistic symptoms would use their special talents in adulthood. He followed one child, Fritz V., into adulthood. Fritz V. became a professor of astronomy and solved an error in Newton’s work he originally noticed as a child. Hans Asperger’s positive outlook contrasts strikingly with Leo Kanner's description of autism, of which Asperger's is often considered to be a high-functioning form.
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Early childhood schizophrenia.

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ERIC #: ED067804
Title: Early Childhood Psychosis: Infantile Autism, Childhood Schizophrenia and Related Disorders. An Annotated Bibliography 1964 to 1969.
Authors: Bryson, Carolyn Q.; Hingtgen, Joseph N.
Descriptors: Annotated Bibliographies; Autism; Clinical Diagnosis; Emotional Disturbances; Exceptional Child Education; Handicapped Children; Identification; Infants; Intellectual Development; Language Acquisition; Neurology; Perceptual Development; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Theories; Therapy; Young Children
Source: N/A
Peer-Reviewed: N/A
Publisher: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 ($1.25)
Publication Date: 1972-00-00
Pages: 135
Pub Types: N/A
Abstract: The annotated bibliography on early childhood psychosis (infantile autism, childhood schizophrenia, and related disorders) contains 424 entries (books, journal articles, conference and research reports) dating from 1964 through the first 6 months of 1970, which pertain to theory, research, and treatment. Number of entries for each subject is noted in parentheses. The following topics serve to organize the entries: descriptive studies (36), differential diagnosis (27), family characteristics (21), behavioral characteristics (19), followup studies (13), intellectual development (12), perceptual processes (28), language (20), neurobiological correlates (seven), drug studies (12), electroencephalogram studies (13), skeletal, cell, biochemical, and other studies (19), psychotherapy (50), behavior therapy (78), educational programs (20), evaluation of therapy (six), and theory (43). Included is an author index. (GW)
Abstractor: N/A
Reference Count: N/A

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Lumping people with Asperger's syndrome and classical autism, and early childhood schizophrenia and mild autism into a diagnosis of autism or ASD is not at all helpful for communication. We are talking about vastly different people. Heung-sui Cho and Temple Grandin are worlds and worlds apart. Let's call Seung-hui Cho, someone who was born with childhood schizophrenia/autism in today's lingo.

They ARE probably all caused by paternal age effects over sometimes over generations, but they vary with the family and the age of the father and the family history. A son of an engineer and an uneducated woman who conceived him when he was 34 will differ from a son of a very simple man and woman who fathered him after 35. The paternal age effect on the DNA of sperm making cells over time is not good for the non-verbal intelligence or the emotional intelligence as defined by Daniel Goleman, of offspring. This may not manifest until more generations have gone by. The rule is, from my point of view, for the health of future generations, father all babies by 32 or cryobank semen in your mid 20s to 30 for any later fathering of babies. Of course the ages that I pick are not exact. In some families boys will be fine if their fathers are older than 35. There are families where the results of later paternal age do not result in mental illness, but may result in de novo Alzheimer's.



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