Abstract
Autism was first described in the literature by Leo Kanner in 1943. Kanner was fascinated and intrigued by the social withdrawal, communication peculiarities, insistence on sameness, and other idiosyncracies of the 11 children he identified as different from the children whom he typically housed in his Child Inpatient Unit. Parents and professionals who have studied autism following Kanner have also been captivated by these children. The enormous range of behaviors, unique patterns of strengths and weaknesses, inconsistencies in performances, communication and social impairments, and preoccupations, among other things, have led to much speculation about autism and the fundamental problems these youngsters face.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Mesibov, G.B., Adams, L.W., Klinger, L.G. (1997). Prologue. In: Autism. Clinical Child Psychology Library. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9343-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9343-7_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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