Leo Kanner introduced the label early infantile autism in 1943.

Leo Kanner (pronounced "Conner") (June 13, 1894 – April 3, 1981) was an Austrian psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism.^[1][2] Kanner's work formed the foundation of child and adolescent psychiatry in the U.S. and worldwide.^[3]

Kanner was born in Klekotow (now Klekotiv), a small village north of Brody (Galicia) in Austria (now in Ukraine). He studied at the University of Berlin from 1913, his studies broken by service with the Austrian Army in World War I, finally receiving his M.D. in 1921. He emigrated to the United States in 1924 to take a position as an Assistant Physician at the State Hospital in Yankton County, South Dakota. In 1930 he was selected by Adolf Meyer and Edward Park to develop the first child psychiatry service in a pediatric hospital at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He became Associate Professor of Psychiatry in 1933.

In academical means, he was the first physician in the world to be identified as a child psychiatrist, founder of the first academical child psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and his first textbook, Child Psychiatry in 1935, was the first English language textbook to focus on the psychiatric problems of children. His seminal 1943 paper, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact", together with the work of Hans Asperger, forms the basis of the modern study of autism.

He became Director of Child Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1930. He retired in 1959 and was replaced as Chief of Child Psychiatry by Leon Eisenberg.

Leo Kanner was the Editor for Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, then called Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, from 1971 till 1974.

Kanner remained active until his death at the age of 86, two months short of his 87th birthday.

[edit] Papers

• Kanner L (1943). "Autistic disturbances of affective contact". Nerv Child 2: 217–50.  "Reprint". Acta Paedopsychiatr 35 (4): 100–36. 1968. PMID 4880460. 
• Kanner L (1949). "Problems of nosology and psychodynamics in early childhood autism". Am J Orthopsychiatry 19 (3): 416–26. PMID 18146742. 
• Kanner L, Eisenberg L (1956). "Early infantile autism 1943–1955". Am J Orthopsychiatry 26: 556–66. 

[edit] Books

• 1928 Folklore of the Teeth
• 1935 Child Psychiatry
• 1941 In Defense of Mothers. How to Bring Up Children In Spite of the More Zealous Psychologists
• 1973 Childhood Psychosis: Initial Studies and New Insights

[edit] Obituaries for Leo Kanner

• L. Bender: In Memoriam Leo Kanner, MD June 13, 1894--April 4, 1981. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1982, 21 (1): 88-89.
• E. Schopler, S. Chess, L. Eisenberg: Our Memorial to Leo Kanner. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, September 1981, 11: 257-269.
• D. Wilk: In Memoriam Dr. Leo Kanner, 1894-1981. Koroth, Jerusalem, August 1982, 8: 213-220.
• K.-J. Neumärker: Leo Kanner: His Years in Berlin, 1906-24. The Roots of Autistic Disorder. History of Psychiatry, Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, England, June 2003, 14 (2): 205-218 (14).
• L. Eisenberg: Leo Kanner, M. D. 1894-1981. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1981, 138 (8): 1122-1125.
• L. Eisenberg: Leo Kanner, 1894-1981. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1994, 151(5): 751.

[edit] References