ped in their actions (Williams, 1992).
Autism is a relatively rare disorder. It seems to afflict approximately four children out of every ten thousand, with most of those diagnosed as autistic being male. There are, however, variations in the estimates of autism, depending upon the criteria used. Mitchell (1997) indicated that some studies support an incidence of autism of as high as one per 500 live births, although other statistics support an incidence of approximately one per 2,000 live births. Only about one out of every four or five autistic individuals is female, although the ratio is closer in more severe cases of the disorder.
As mentioned earlier, the modern concept of autism was first shaped by Bruno Bettelheim (1967), who believed that the cause of autism was psychogenic. He thought that autistic children were characterized by having survived some extreme experience, traumatized by it and the insufficient nurturing they receivd from their parents. Thus, the concept of the "refrigerator mother" as first cause of autism came into existence.
This was proved to be not only inadequate, but incorrect, as a theory of autism. During the 1970s, the concept of autism developed in a different direction. A series of studies identified autism as characterized by a triad of impairments that existed in the realms of socialization, communication, and imagination. Wing and Gould (1979), among others, theorized that this series of problems was related and that children with autism were those individuals who had the entire constellation of impairments.
To define autism, or to determine its major characteristics, is not to explain it, however. These are two separate issues, although both have been problematic. The first issue - definition, diagnosis, characterization - continues to create controversy, although there is considerable agreement about some of the impairments, and potential gifts, that autistic individuals ...