1963 Definition of Autism

Post Reply New Topic

I was digging through some books the other day and found an old abridged medical dictionary, from 1963. I was playing around, looking up various words and found that they defined "Autism" as "morbid concentration." I'm guessing they've learned a lot about Autism since 1963.

Bonus word -- "homosexuality" was defined as a "disorder in which a person is attracted to persons of the same sex."

Morbid concentration, huh? No wonder they took that path with me when I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt years ago. I did nothing but write fairy tales every day in my notebook. I pretty much ignored everyone and ended up writing 32 fairy tales over a two month period. I can't complain. One of those fairy tales won an award when it was published last year. Here is the link.

The Candlestick Kid

"Morbid concentration" doesn't sound too bad though.

I mean, a narrow focus on a single item or subject is one of the defining points of autism. And the focus on said subject or item is to a pathological level.

You could say that pathological focus could interfere with the development of social skills too....

Lots of ways you can define these things that also often end up in the same place.

Morbid concentration sounds about right to me.

I am a 1963 definition - I was born that year.