October 21 marks the anniversary of the death of Hans Asperger, a name long associated with what was once called Asperger Syndrome. Many recognize the term, but few truly know about the complex history behind it.
In 1944, Asperger described a group of children who struggled with social interaction and empathy but displayed strong intellectual abilities and specific interests. He called this condition “autistic psychopathy.” His work, written in German during World War II, remained largely unknown outside Austria for decades. It wasn’t until 1981, a year after Asperger’s death, that British psychiatrist Lorna Wing revived his research and coined the term “Asperger Syndrome.” This term became widely used to describe individuals on the autism spectrum without intellectual disability.
For many years, Asperger Syndrome appeared as a separate diagnosis in international manuals such as the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases). However, since the publication of the DSM-5 (2013) and ICD-11 (2022), these terms were removed, and all related conditions are now grouped under the broader term Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Yet, long before Asperger’s work, in 1926, Grunya Sukhareva, a Soviet child psychiatrist and neurologist, had already described almost the same clinical picture. Her detailed observations of children with social and communication differences, combined with high intelligence and narrow interests, anticipated much of what Asperger would later publish. Today, Sukhareva is recognized as the first to describe childhood autism, decades before the world gave it a name.
As we remember the history of autism research, it is essential to highlight the contributions of women scientists like Grunya Sukhareva, who’s pioneering work reshaped the understanding of neurodiversity. This story reminds us how easily some scientific achievements have been overlooked and how vital it is to ensure that every scientific discovery receives the recognition it deserves.
Assistant Lecturer at the University of the Basque Country