Kanner, Asperger, and Frankl: A third man at the genesis of the autism diagnosis

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Robison, J. E. (2016). Kanner, Asperger, and Frankl: A third man at the genesis of the autism diagnosis. Autism, 21(7), 862-871. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361316654283

Journal or book title
Autism
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
21
Issue
7
Pages
862-871
Publication date: 13 Sep 2016 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. John Elder Robison *

Abstract

Scholars have long speculated about how Kanner and Asperger's descriptions of autistic behavior appeared just 1 year apart in America and Austria even as World War II had severed communication between the two countries. Both conspiracy and serendipity have been alleged, but a simpler explanation has now emerged. Autistic knowledge crossed the Atlantic with Georg Frankl-a previously unrecognized "man in the middle" who followed his fiancé to America. The evidence presented here fills in many blanks and suggests both Kanner and Asperger benefited from Frankl's insight. He was a guiding force for both men: unseen until now because he left very little in the way of published papers. To the end of their lives, Kanner and Asperger described their conditions as separate and distinct. Today, they are both part of the Autism Spectrum in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). This article explains how and why Kanner and Asperger saw their descriptions as different. It makes the case that Georg Frankl helped both men see autism as we know it today and first saw the breadth of that continuum.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 17:02.

Cited references
37
With a DOI
20
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
13
0 / 37 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
7 / 37 (18.9%)
References with detected author names
35 / 37 (94.6%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
13
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
44
From DOI or external metadata
44
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
3 / 44 (6.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 41 / 44 (93.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 44 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 3 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 40 (0.0%).
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