Diagnostic Issues in High-Functioning Autism

Ever since Kanner (1943) published his first description of autism, views of its etiology and nature have evolved and changed. During the past four decades, in spite of the significant advances in the understanding of autism, disagreements over its validity and definition have never ceased. Lay people are confused by changes of the diagnostic terms and criteria for autism; they worry that different authorities are talking about different disorders when they talk about autistic people. This is particularly true in the borderline cases with near-normal functioning (i.e., high-functioning autism).

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