History and First Descriptions of Autism: Asperger Versus Kanner Revisited

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Chown, N. & Hughes, E. (2016). History and First Descriptions of Autism: Asperger Versus Kanner Revisited. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(6), 2270-2272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2746-0

Publication date: 16 Feb 2016 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 2 (100.0%)
  1. Nicholas Chown *
  2. Elizabeth Hughes *

Abstract

When reading Michael Fitzgerald's chapter entitled 'Autism: Asperger's Syndrome-History and First Descriptions' in 'Asperger's Disorder' edited by Rausch, Johnson and Casanova, a while ago, one of us was struck by his contention that Kanner was guilty of plagiarism as well as non-attribution of Asperger's 1938 paper 'Das psychisch abnorme kind' (Fitzgerald in Asperger's disorder. Informa Healthcare, New York, 2008) published in a Vienna weekly. Steve Silberman has discovered evidence that Kanner rescued Asperger's chief diagnostician from the Nazis in 1944 so must have been aware of Asperger's work and conclusions. Fitzgerald was on the right track but it appears that Kanner may have plagiarised Asperger's ideas rather than his 1938 paper.

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 07:50.

Cited references
16
With a DOI
10
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
1 / 16 (6.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
4 / 16 (25.0%)
References with detected author names
14 / 16 (87.5%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
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
24
From DOI or external metadata
24
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
6 / 24 (25.0%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 18 / 24 (75.0%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
1 / 24 (4.2%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 1 / 6 (16.7%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 24 (4.2%).
  1. (2013). European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience . European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Other DOI: 10.1007/406.1433-8491 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W94779806
    OpenAlex
  2. H Asperger (1944). Asperger, H. (1944). Die “Autistischen Psychopathen” im Kindesalter. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 117(1), 76–136. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 117(1), 76.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  3. Eric Schopler , Robert J. Reichler , Robert F. DeVellis , Kenneth Daly (1980). Toward objective classification of childhood autism: Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10(1), 91-103. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf02408436 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2026473386
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  4. (2011). A history of autism: conversations with the pioneers . Choice Reviews Online, 48(08), 48-4518-48-4518. American Library Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.5860/choice.48-4518 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W156410524
    OpenAlex
  5. Nicholas Chown * (2012). ‘History and First Descriptions’ of Autism: A response to Michael Fitzgerald . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(10), 2263-2265. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s10803-012-1529-5 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2005935810
    AutiHub · Autistic Autism Scholarship Project Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  6. Adam Feinstein (2010). A History of Autism . Wiley.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.1002/9781444325461 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4234528326
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  7. Hans Asperger (1944). Die „Autistischen Psychopathen” im Kindesalter . Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117(1), 76-136. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf01837709 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1965210252
    OpenAlex
  8. Ann Le Couteur , Michael Rutter , Catherine Lord , Patricia Rios , Sarah Robertson , Mary Holdgrafer et al. (1989). Autism diagnostic interview: A standardized investigator-based instrument . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19(3), 363-387. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf02212936 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1989442204
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  9. M Fitzgerald (2008). Asperger’s disorder . Asperger’s disorder.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  10. I. Carina Gillberg , Christopher Gillberg (1989). Asperger Syndrome—Some Epidemiological Considerations: A Research Note . Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30(4), 631-638. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00275.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2063946958
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  11. L Kanner (1943). Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250. Nervous Child, 2(3), 217.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  12. Léo Kanner (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact . The Nervous Child, 2(3), 217.
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2255119171
    OpenAlex
  13. Steve Silberman (2001). NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2417276128
    OpenAlex
  14. S Silberman (2015). NeuroTribes: The legacy of autism and how to think smarter about people who think differently . NeuroTribes: The legacy of autism and how to think smarter about people who think differently.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  15. Michael Fitzgerald (2008). Autism: Asperger’s Syndrome—History and First Descriptions .
    Type: Article DOI: 10.3109/9780849383649-5 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2482653365
    OpenAlex
  16. Gábor Petri (2016). Neurotribes. The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter about People who Think Differently . Tizard Learning Disability Review, 21(4), 226-228. Emerald.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1108/tldr-01-2016-0006 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2914103329
    OpenAlex