The word autism comes from the Greek word autos, which means “self”. The label “autistic” was first introduced by eminent psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler near the beginning of the 20th century. Originally, the term referred to a striking disturbance in schizophrenia, therefore, narrowing all sorts of relationships with people and excluding everything except one self.

In 1943, Leo Kanner saw cases of strange children who seemed unable to have any form of normal relationships with their peers. In contrast to schizophrenia, he noticed this behavior appeared to have been there from the very beginning. Furthermore, there was no progressive deterioration which is the case with schizophrenia.Autism is a developmental disorder that manifests its features during the first 30 months of life. It is characterized by impairment in social interaction, communication, restricted and repetitive behavior

The Autism Society of America was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D. His book, Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior, was written in late 1964 and was one of the first of its kind. In 1968, Ruth Sullivan, Ph.D. became the organization’s first elected president.

Over the last 40 years, the society has grown from a handful of parents into the leading source of information, research and reference on autism. ASA is the oldest and largest grassroots organization within the autism community.

Today, more than 120,000 members and supporters are connected through a working network of nearly 200 chapters nationwide. ASA membership continues to grow as more and more parents and professionals unite to form a collective voice representing the autism community.