Annual Research Review: Looking back to look forward - changes in the concept of autism and implications for future research
- PMID: 31994188
- DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13176
Annual Research Review: Looking back to look forward - changes in the concept of autism and implications for future research
Abstract
The concept of autism is a significant contribution from child psychiatry that has entered wider culture and public consciousness, and has evolved significantly over the last four decades. Taking a rather personal retrospective, reflecting on our own time in autism research, this review explores changes in the concept of autism and the implications of these for future research. We focus on seven major changes in how autism is thought of, operationalised, and recognised: (1) from a narrow definition to wide diagnostic criteria; (2) from a rare to a relatively common condition, although probably still under-recognised in women; (3) from something affecting children, to a lifelong condition; (4) from something discreet and distinct, to a dimensional view; (5) from one thing to many 'autisms', and a compound or 'fractionable' condition; (6) from a focus on 'pure' autism, to recognition that complexity and comorbidity is the norm; and finally, (7) from conceptualising autism purely as a 'developmental disorder', to recognising a neurodiversity perspective, operationalised in participatory research models. We conclude with some challenges for the field and suggestions for areas currently neglected in autism research.
Keywords: Asperger disorder; Autism spectrum disorders; neurodevelopmental disorders; social cognition.
© 2020 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Comment in
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Commentary: Broadening the research remit of participatory methods in autism science - a commentary on Happé and Frith (2020).J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2020 Mar;61(3):233-235. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13212. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2020. PMID: 32064634
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Can a Person be 'A Bit Autistic'? A Response to Francesca Happé and Uta Frith.J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Feb;51(2):749-751. doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04541-0. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021. PMID: 32535669 No abstract available.
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Dimensional or Categorical Approaches to Autism? Both are Needed. A Reply to Nick Chown and Julia Leatherland.J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Feb;51(2):752-753. doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04728-5. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021. PMID: 33006107 No abstract available.
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Commentary: Time to reconceptualize ASD? comments on Happe and Frith (2020) and Sonuga-Barke (2020).J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2021 Aug;62(8):1042-1044. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13345. Epub 2020 Oct 29. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2021. PMID: 33118612
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