ASPERGER IN BALTIMORE By Patrick Dwyer “…while Kanner’s work became famous, Asperger’s was buried when the massive 1944 Allied bombing of Vienna came crashing into the university pediatric clinic. Asperger survived. But his discoveries, his carefully run ward, and even the supremely capable governess Sister Viktorine—all perished.” Collins, 2004, p. 68 A Brief Introduction Autism was first described in the 1940s. In 1943, Leo Kanner published a paper about eleven unusual children in Baltimore. Simultaneously, Hans Asperger was working with another group of children in Vienna, and he published a paper describing them in 1944. Remarkably, both scientists used the same terminology to describe the children: Kanner spoke of “autistic disturbances of affective contact” (Schreibman, 2005) or “early infantile autism” (Frith, 1991), while Asperger described “autistic psychopathy” (Asperger, 1944/ 1991). Asperger planned further studies of autism. He hoped to find the cause of autism, as well as follow autistic children into adulthood (Asperger, 1944/ 1991). However, the Second World War was underway, so Kanner and Asperger did not learn of one another’s work. Furthermore, Asperger’s clinic was destroyed by Allied bombers in 1944. This event changed Asperger’s priorities. Asperger did visit the United States in 1950 and again in the 1970s, but he never met Kanner and there is no evidence that the latter was ever aware of Asperger’s work (Feinstein, 2010). It was 1981; the year after Asperger’s death, when Lorna Wing published a paper that kindled interest in his work (Grinker, 2007), and it was not until 1991 that Uta Frith translated Asperger’s 1944 paper into English. If we imagine that Asperger’s clinic had been spared destruction, it seems quite possible that the publication of further ground-breaking studies could have attracted attention outside the German-speaking community. This could have had a great effect on autism science in America, which might not have turned to the theory of the refrigerator mother. Baltimore, 1957 “...we have endeavoured to bring our experience to bear, as well as our ongoing commitment to the well-being of these children. This study shows that if these children can overcome their difficulties, and if they are supported in their efforts, they can be of great value to society.”
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Bruno Bettelheim