De conceptualisering van ASS als een contactstoornis door Frankl, Asperger en Kanner

Three authors developed the idea that autism is a contact disorder: Georg(e) Frankl (1897-1975), Hans Asperger (1906-1980) en Leo Kanner (1894-1981). They were practicing medical doctors, who worked in the first medical institutions that addresses the mental problems of children. Frankl introduced the idea of a contact disorder. Frankl’s role in the history of autism was discovered in 2015 and is clarified here. His idea influenced Asperger and Kanner, who emphasized that autistic children have different contact with their environment. Asperger and Kanner are well-known founders of autism research, but the article presents new discoveries about their work. They show that all symptoms of autism had a logical place in their theories.