Autism and Developmental Disorders
2023. Vol. 21, no. 4, 34–42
doi:10.17759/autdd.2023210404
ISSN: 1994-1617 / 2413-4317 (online)
Diagnosis or Metaphor: Metamorphosis of the Infantile Autism Concept in a Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. Overview
Abstract
Оbjectives. A paradigm shift in modern Western psychiatry has changed some well-known ideas about childhood autism elaborated in the 20th century. Mostly, it was a consequence of revisions of the thesaurus and guidelines for classifying the given disease. This causes obvious difficulties in professional interdisciplinary communication between psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. This review compares the terms used in our national psychiatry (which were related to childhood autism during the nosological era of the 20th century) to those built in the 21st century in the USA and the European Union countries to describe antinosological andparametric approaches. The move to parametric, quantitative approaches in psychiatric diagnosis has expanded the boundaries of childhood autism while simultaneously increasing epidemiological rates.
Characteristics of sources used. The review encompasses publications that representing Western scientific trends, as well as scholars of our national psychiatry of the 20th century. Although some of them may be unfamiliar to contemporary readers, they still possess significant worth in the realms of science and practical application.
Conclusions. Modifying the thesaurus and taxonomic principles does not necessarily result in the acquisition of fresh scientific knowledge. It is important to emphasise the necessity of taking into account professional boundaries of competence when incorporating psychiatric terminology from related fields. The review discusses some psycholinguistic aspects of the coining and use of psychiatric terms in interand intradisciplinary sciences. This information may be valuable for specialists engaged in the training, retraining and advanced training of clinical and correctional psychologists, as well as defectologists.
General Information
Keywords: infantile autism; autism spectrum disorder; schizophrenia; psychiatry; terminology; classification; clinical psychology
Journal rubric: Research of ASD
Article type: scientific article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/autdd.2023210404
Funding. The reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project number 19-29-14078
Received: 30.12.2022
Accepted:
For citation: Kornev A.N. Diagnosis or Metaphor: Metamorphosis of the Infantile Autism Concept in a Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. Overview. Autizm i narusheniya razvitiya = Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2023. Vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 34–42. DOI: 10.17759/autdd.2023210404. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)
Full text
Introduction
Sectoral Differences in the Acquisition and Application of Professional Terminology in Psychiatric and Pathopsychological Diagnosis
- Studying childhood schizophrenia [3; 6; 30]. Within the framework of this trend, EIA was considered in several aspects: a) as a variant of dysontogenia, b) as a pre-morbid condition in children with a later manifestation of the schizophrenic process, and c) as a result (deficiency) of a supposedly premature (at the age of 1-2 years or earlier) onset of schizophrenia. In general, this fits into the concept of an "evolutionary process disorder", which is proposed to be distinguished from procedural autism, i.e. childhood schizophrenia [3; 26]. A similar but more cautious view of the relationship between childhood autism and early schizophrenia persisted in studies by British and American scientists from the first half of the 20th century until the early 1980s [38; 40].
- Studying residual organic dysontogenias [11; 12; 23]. S.S. Mnukhin and his colleagues, within the framework of clinical and physiological classification of residual organic dysontogenias, described the atonic form of residual organic psychopath-like states, in which children had a picture of schizoform disorders, manifested as "[t]he carelessness, resonance, complacency, spontaneity, tendency to mental chewing, then peculiar "schizoform" pictures with pallor of emotions, strange and sometimes ridiculous actions, insufficient or formal contact with the environment [...] tendency to useless 'reasoning' and fantasies" [23, p. 9]. According to the authors, some of these children show a clinical picture similar to Asperger syndrome, and it is legitimate to consider them as psychopath-like schizophrenic conditions of organic genesis or as "organic autism" [11]. Among children with mental retardation, S.S. Mnukhin [23] and D.N. Isaev [10] studied in detail the atonic form of oligophrenia, the peculiarity of which was a gross disturbance of mental tone, aspontaneity, field behavior and the presence of various stereotypes (hand patting, jumping, running in circles). Differential diagnosis of dysontogenia with Kanner syndrome can be difficult [11; 12]. Broadly similar clinical descriptions can be found in Western publications under the name "pervasive developmental disorders" [38; 40].
- Persistent impairments in initiating and maintaining social communication and reciprocal social interactions [33; 36; 39].
- Sustained limited, repetitive and inflexible patterns of behavior, interests or activities [36].
Conclusion
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