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Despite this brief resurgence of interest in his work in the 1990s, AS remains a controversial and contentious diagnosis due to its unclear relationship to the autism spectrum. The [[World Health Organization]]’s ICD-10 Version 2015 describes AS as “a disorder of uncertain nosological validity”,<ref name="ICD-10 Version 2015">{{cite web | url=http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2015/en#/F84.5| title=F84.5 Asperger syndrome| date=2015| website=ICD-10 Version 2015| publisher=[[World Health Organization]]| access-date=January 1, 2016}}</ref> and there was a majority consensus to phase the diagnosis out of the [[American Psychiatric Association]]’s diagnosis manual.<ref name=DSMV/>
Despite this brief resurgence of interest in his work in the 1990s, AS remains a controversial and contentious diagnosis due to its unclear relationship to the autism spectrum. The [[World Health Organization]]’s ICD-10 Version 2015 describes AS as “a disorder of uncertain nosological validity”,<ref name="ICD-10 Version 2015">{{cite web | url=http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2015/en#/F84.5| title=F84.5 Asperger syndrome| date=2015| website=ICD-10 Version 2015| publisher=[[World Health Organization]]| access-date=January 1, 2016}}</ref> and there was a majority consensus to phase the diagnosis out of the [[American Psychiatric Association]]’s diagnosis manual.<ref name=DSMV/>


In his 1944 paper, as Uta Frith translated from the German in 1991, Asperger wrote, "We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfill their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers."<ref name="Frith3">{{cite book | last1=Frith| first1=Uta| date=January 1992| chapter=‘Autistic psychopathy’ in childhood| title=Autism and Asperger syndrome| url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/medicine/mental-health-psychiatry-and-clinical-psychology/autism-and-asperger-syndrome| language=English| edition=First| location=NewYork| publisher=Cambridge University Press| pages=37–92| isbn=978-0521386081}}</ref> Based on Frith's translation, however, Asperger initially stated: "Unfortunately, in the majority of cases the positive aspects of autism do not outweigh the negative ones."<ref name="Frith3"/> Psychologist [[Eric Schopler]] wrote in 1998:<blockquote>Asperger’s own publications did not inspire research, replication, or scientific interest prior to 1980. Instead, he laid the fertile groundwork for the diagnostic confusion that has grown since 1980.<ref name="Schopler">{{cite book | year=1998| editor1-last=Schopler| editor1-first=Eric| editor2-last=Mesibov| editor2-first=Gary B.| editor3-last=Kunce| editor3-first=Linda J.| title=Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism?| url=https://www.springer.com/us/book/9780306457463| series=[https://www.springer.com/series/5739 Current Issues in Autism]| language=English| edition= First| location=Berlin| publisher= [[Springer Science+Business Media|Plenum Press]]| page= 388| doi= 10.1007/978-1-4615-5369-4| isbn= 978-0-306-45746-3}}</ref></blockquote>
In his 1944 paper, as Uta Frith translated from the German in 1991, Asperger wrote, "We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfill their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers."<ref name="Frith3">{{cite book | last1=Frith| first1=Uta| date=January 1992| chapter=‘Autistic psychopathy’ in childhood| title=Autism and Asperger syndrome| url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/medicine/mental-health-psychiatry-and-clinical-psychology/autism-and-asperger-syndrome| language=English| edition=First| location=NewYork| publisher=Cambridge University Press| pages=37–92| isbn=978-0521386081}}</ref> Based on Frith's translation, however, Asperger initially stated: "Unfortunately, in the majority of cases the positive aspects of autism do not outweigh the negative ones."<ref name="Frith3"/> Psychologist [[Eric Schopler]] wrote in 1998:<blockquote>Asperger’s own publications did not inspire research, replication, or scientific interest prior to 1980. Instead, he laid the fertile groundwork for the diagnostic confusion that has grown since 1980.<ref name="Schopler">{{cite book | year=1998| editor1-last=Schopler| editor1-first=Eric| editor2-last=Mesibov| editor2-first=Gary B.| editor3-last=Kunce| editor3-first=Linda J.| title=Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism?| url=https://www.springer.com/us/book/9780306457463| series=[https://www.springer.com/series/5739 Current Issues in Autism]| language=English| edition= First| location=Berlin| publisher= [[Springer Science+Business Media|Plenum Press]]| page= 388| doi= 10.1007/978-1-4615-5369-4| isbn= 978-0-306-45746-3}}</ref></blockquote>An eight-year study on Asperger's work during the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]], published in April 2018, concluded that "The narrative of Asperger as a principled opponent of National Socialism and a courageous defender of his patients against Nazi ‘euthanasia’ and other race hygiene measures does not hold up in the face of the historical evidence."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Czech|first=Herwig|date=2018-04-19|title=Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and “race hygiene” in Nazi-era Vienna|url=https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0208-6|journal=Molecular Autism|volume=9|pages=29|doi=10.1186/s13229-018-0208-6|issn=2040-2392}}</ref> According to the study, Asperger closely aligned with Nazi political and racial ideology. However, the author, Herwig Czech, also acknowledged that there is no evidence to suggest that his attitude towards [[Nazism|National Socialism]] has tainted his contribution to autism research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/hans-asperger-aided-and-supported-nazi-programme-study-says|title=Hans Asperger aided and supported Nazi programme, study says|last=Connolly|first=Kate|date=2018-04-19|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-04-19}}</ref>


Since 2009, Asperger’s birthday, 18 February, has been declared International Asperger’s Day by various governments.<ref name="McLucas">{{cite press release | url=http://www.formerministers.dss.gov.au/11804/celebrating-international-aspergers-day/| title=International Asperger’s Day| publisher=[[Australia|Commonwealth of Australia]] Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Senator the Hon [[Jan McLucas]]| date=February 19, 2013| accessdate=January 1, 2016}}</ref>
Since 2009, Asperger’s birthday, 18 February, has been declared International Asperger’s Day by various governments.<ref name="McLucas">{{cite press release | url=http://www.formerministers.dss.gov.au/11804/celebrating-international-aspergers-day/| title=International Asperger’s Day| publisher=[[Australia|Commonwealth of Australia]] Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Senator the Hon [[Jan McLucas]]| date=February 19, 2013| accessdate=January 1, 2016}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:17, 19 April 2018

Hans Asperger
A white-coated man in his thirties sits at a table across from a boy. He looks intently at the boy through his rimless glasses. His hair is cropped fairly short on the sides and is wavy on top. The boy, seated in the foreground with his back toward the viewer, sits straight up, with one arm resting on the arm of a wooden chair.
Asperger performing a psychological test on a child at the University Pediatric Clinic, Vienna during the Third Reich c. 1940.
Born18 February 1906
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died21 October 1980(1980-10-21) (aged 74)
Vienna, Austria
EducationUniversity of Vienna
Known forWriting on “autistic psychopathy”
Eponym of Asperger syndrome
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician
InstitutionsUniversity Children’s Hospital, Vienna
Sub-specialtiesPediatrics
ResearchAutism

Johann "Hans" Friedrich Karl Asperger (German pronunciation: [hans ˈaspɛʁɡɐ], 18 February 1906 – 21 October 1980) was an Austrian pediatrician, medical theorist, and medical professor. He is best known for his early studies on mental disorders, especially in children. His work was largely unnoticed during his lifetime except for a few accolades in Vienna, and his studies on psychological disorders only acquired world renown posthumously. He wrote over 300 publications, mostly concerning a condition he termed autistic psychopathy (AP). There was a resurgence of interest in his work beginning in the 1980s, and due to his earlier work on autism spectrum disorders, Asperger syndrome (AS), was named after him. Both Asperger's original paediatric diagnosis of AP and the eponymous diagnosis of AS that was named after him several decades later have been controversial.[1]

Personal

Hans Asperger was born in Vienna, Austria, and raised on a farm not far from the city.[2] The eldest of three sons, Hans had difficulty finding friends and was considered a lonely, remote child.[3][4] He was talented in language; in particular, he was interested in the Austrian poet Franz Grillparzer, whose poetry he would frequently quote to his uninterested classmates. He also liked to quote himself and often referred to himself from a third-person perspective.[3]

Asperger studied medicine at the University of Vienna under Franz Hamburger[4][5] and practiced at the University Children’s Hospital in Vienna. He earned his medical degree in 1931 and became director of the special education section at the university children’s clinic in Vienna in 1932.[2] He married in 1935 and had five children.[3]

Career

During World War II, he was a medical officer, serving in the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia; his younger brother died at Stalingrad.[3] Near the end of the war, Asperger opened a school for children with Sister Viktorine Zak. The school was bombed and destroyed, Sister Viktorine was killed, and much of Asperger’s early work was lost.[6]

There is some debate as to whether or not he was a Nazi Party member. Working with the Nazis,[7] Asperger recommended the transfer of children deemed unfit to Spiegelgrund. Dozens of them were killed there.[8][9][10] Asperger claimed to have protected his patients from the Nazis, and that he was wanted by the Gestapo in WWII for refusing to turn over children to them.[11]

Georg Frankl was Asperger’s chief diagnostician until he moved from Austria to America and was hired by Leo Kanner in 1937.[12]

Asperger published a definition of autistic psychopathy in 1944 that was nearly identical with the definition published earlier by a Russian neurologist named Grunya Sukhareva in 1926.[13][14] Asperger identified in four boys a pattern of behavior and abilities that included “a lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships, one-sided conversations, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements”.[6] Asperger noticed that some of the children he identified as being autistic used their special talents in adulthood and had successful careers. One of them became a professor of astronomy and solved an error in Newton’s work he had originally noticed as a student.[15] Another one of Asperger’s patients was the Austrian writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, Elfriede Jelinek.[16] However, Asperger claimed that autistic traits were more often a disorder than a benefit for the majority of people who had them, and that more severely impaired subjects had little "social worth".[8]

In 1944, after the publication of his landmark paper describing autistic symptoms, Hans Asperger found a permanent tenured post at the University of Vienna. Shortly after the war ended, he became director of a children’s clinic in the city. It was there that he was appointed chair of pediatrics at the University of Vienna, a post he held for twenty years. He later held a post at Innsbruck. Beginning in 1964, he headed the SOS-Kinderdorf in Hinterbrühl.[2] He became professor emeritus in 1977, and died three years later. AS was named after Hans Asperger and officially recognized in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1994;[17] it was removed from DSM-5 in 2013.[18]

Posthumous developments

Further information: History of Asperger syndrome

Asperger died before his identification of this pattern of behaviour became widely recognised. This was in part due to his work being exclusively in German and as such it was little-translated; medical academics, then as now, also disregarded Asperger’s work based on its merits or lack thereof. English researcher Lorna Wing proposed the condition Asperger’s syndrome in a 1981 paper, Asperger’s syndrome: a clinical account, that challenged the previously accepted model of autism presented by Leo Kanner in 1943.[19] It was not until 1991 that an authoritative translation of Asperger’s work was made by Uta Frith;[20] before this AS had still been “virtually unknown”.[21] Frith said that fundamental questions regarding the diagnosis had not been answered, and the necessary scientific data to address this did not exist.[22] Unlike Kanner, who overshadowed Asperger, the latter’s findings were ignored and disregarded in the English-speaking world in his lifetime.

In the early 1990s, Asperger’s work gained some notice due to Wing’s research on the subject and Frith’s recent translation, leading to the inclusion of the eponymous condition in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th revision (ICD-10) in 1993, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th revision (DSM-IV) in 1994, some half a century after Asperger’s original research.

Despite this brief resurgence of interest in his work in the 1990s, AS remains a controversial and contentious diagnosis due to its unclear relationship to the autism spectrum. The World Health Organization’s ICD-10 Version 2015 describes AS as “a disorder of uncertain nosological validity”,[23] and there was a majority consensus to phase the diagnosis out of the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnosis manual.[18]

In his 1944 paper, as Uta Frith translated from the German in 1991, Asperger wrote, "We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfill their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers."[24] Based on Frith's translation, however, Asperger initially stated: "Unfortunately, in the majority of cases the positive aspects of autism do not outweigh the negative ones."[24] Psychologist Eric Schopler wrote in 1998:

Asperger’s own publications did not inspire research, replication, or scientific interest prior to 1980. Instead, he laid the fertile groundwork for the diagnostic confusion that has grown since 1980.[25]

An eight-year study on Asperger's work during the Third Reich, published in April 2018, concluded that "The narrative of Asperger as a principled opponent of National Socialism and a courageous defender of his patients against Nazi ‘euthanasia’ and other race hygiene measures does not hold up in the face of the historical evidence."[26] According to the study, Asperger closely aligned with Nazi political and racial ideology. However, the author, Herwig Czech, also acknowledged that there is no evidence to suggest that his attitude towards National Socialism has tainted his contribution to autism research.[27]

Since 2009, Asperger’s birthday, 18 February, has been declared International Asperger’s Day by various governments.[28]

Selected papers

  • Asperger, Hans (1938). "Das psychisch abnorme Kind [The psychically abnormal child]". Wiener klinische Wochenschrift (in German). 51: 1314–1317.
  • Asperger, Hans (June 1944). "Die "Autistischen Psychopathen" im Kindesalter [Autistic psychopaths in childhood]". Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten (in German). 117: 76–136. doi:10.1007/BF01837709.
  • Asperger, Hans (1968). "Auf die Differentialdiagnose des frühen infantilen Autismus [On the differential diagnosis of early infantile autism]". Acta Paedopsychiatrica (in German). 35 (4): 136–145. PMID 4880461.
  • Asperger, Hans (1974). "Der frühe infantile Autismus [Early infantile autism]". Medizinische Klinik (in German). 69 (49): 2024–2027. PMID 4444665.
  • Asperger, Hans (1977). "Erlebtes Leben. Fünfzig Jahre Pädiatrie [The lived life. 50 years of pediatrics]". Pädiatrie & Pädologie (in German). 12 (3): 214–223. PMID 331197.

References

  1. ^ Hippler, Kathrin; Klicpera, Christian (2003). "A Retrospective Analysis of the Clinical Case Records of 'Autistic Psychopaths' Diagnosed by Hans Asperger and His Team at the University Children's Hospital, Vienna". Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. 358 (1430): 291–301. doi:10.1098/rstb.2002.1197. JSTOR 3558142. PMC 1693115. PMID 12639327.
  2. ^ a b c "Hans Asperger". Whonamedit?: A dictionary of medical eponyms. Ole Daniel Enersen. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Lyons, Viktoria; Fitzgerald, Michael (May 10, 2007). "Letter to the Editor: Did Hans Asperger (1906–1980) have Asperger Syndrome?". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 37 (10). Springer Science+Business Media: 2020–2021. doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0382-4. PMID 17917805. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Feinstein, Adam (July 2010). A History of Autism: Conversations with the Pioneers (First ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4051-8653-7.
  5. ^ Just, Marcel Adam; Pelphrey, Kevin A., eds. (2013). Development and Brain Systems in Autism. New York: Psychology Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-84872-866-0.
  6. ^ a b Attwood, Tony (1997-10-01). Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-85302-577-8. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  7. ^ Baron-Cohen, Simon; Klin, Ami; Silberman, Steve; Buxbaum, Joseph (19 April 2018). "Did Hans Asperger actively assist the Nazi euthanasia program?". Molecular Autism. 9 (28). doi:10.1186/s13229-018-0209-5. Retrieved 19 April 2018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  8. ^ a b Donvan, John; Zucker, Caren. "The Doctor and the Nazis". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  9. ^ Silberman, Steve. "Was Dr. Asperger A Nazi? The Question Still Haunts Autism". NPR. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  10. ^ Sheffer, Edith (March 31, 2018). "The Nazi History Behind 'Asperger'". New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  11. ^ "Hans Asperger 'collaborated with Nazis' in WWII". BBC News. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  12. ^ Silberman, Steve (2015). NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. Avery Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-58333-467-6.
  13. ^ Nieminen-von Wendt, Taina (2004). On the origins and diagnosis of Asperger syndrome: a clinical, neuroimaging and genetic study. Helsinki, Finland: University of Helsinki. p. 10. ISBN 952-10-2079-2.
  14. ^ Ssucharewa, Dr. G.E. (1926). "Die schizoiden Psychopathien im Kindesalter (Part 2 of 2)". Monatsschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologie. 60 (3–4): 248–261. doi:10.1159/000316609. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  15. ^ Hans Asperger (1944). "Die "Autistischen Psychopathen" im Kindesalter". Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten. 117 (1): 132–135. doi:10.1007/bf01837709.
  16. ^ Mayer, Verena; Koberg, Roland (2006-01-31). Elfriede Jelinek: Ein Porträt (in German) (First ed.). Berlin: Rowohlt Verlag GmbH. p. 32. ISBN 978-3498035297. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  17. ^ Grandin, Temple; Panek, Richard (2013-04-30). The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum (First ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0547636450. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  18. ^ a b "DSM-5 Development: 299.80 Asperger's Disorder". American Psychiatric Association. December 25, 2010. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved Januay 1, 2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  19. ^ Wing, Lorna (2009-07-09). "Asperger syndrome: a clinical account". Psychological Medicine. 11 (1). Cambridge University Press: 115–129. doi:10.1017/S0033291700053332. PMID 7208735. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  20. ^ Frith, Uta (January 1992). Autism and Asperger syndrome (First ed.). NewYork: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521386081.
  21. ^ Baron-Cohen S, Klin A (2006). "What's so special about Asperger Syndrome?" (PDF). Brain and Cognition. 61 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2006.02.002. PMID 16563588.
  22. ^ Frith, Uta (January 1992). Autism and Asperger syndrome (First ed.). NewYork: Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0521386081.
  23. ^ "F84.5 Asperger syndrome". ICD-10 Version 2015. World Health Organization. 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  24. ^ a b Frith, Uta (January 1992). "'Autistic psychopathy' in childhood". Autism and Asperger syndrome (First ed.). NewYork: Cambridge University Press. pp. 37–92. ISBN 978-0521386081.
  25. ^ Schopler, Eric; Mesibov, Gary B.; Kunce, Linda J., eds. (1998). Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism?. Current Issues in Autism (First ed.). Berlin: Plenum Press. p. 388. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-5369-4. ISBN 978-0-306-45746-3. {{cite book}}: External link in |series= (help)
  26. ^ Czech, Herwig (2018-04-19). "Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and "race hygiene" in Nazi-era Vienna". Molecular Autism. 9: 29. doi:10.1186/s13229-018-0208-6. ISSN 2040-2392.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  27. ^ Connolly, Kate (2018-04-19). "Hans Asperger aided and supported Nazi programme, study says". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  28. ^ "International Asperger's Day" (Press release). Commonwealth of Australia Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Senator the Hon Jan McLucas. February 19, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2016.

Further reading

External links

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