1910

Swiss Eugen Bleuler introduces the term .

1943

American psychiatrist Leo Kanner publishes “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact” (Nervous Child 2 (1943): 217-250), identifying autism as a childhood psychiatric disorder.

1944

Austrian pediatrician publishes “ Die ‘Autistischen Psychopathen’ im Kindesalter” “[`Autistic Psychopathy’ in Childhood”] ( Archiv fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117, 76-136). It will not be available in English until 1991.

1946

Congress enacts PL 79-725, the Hospital Survey and Construction Act, also known as the Hill- Burton Act, authorizing federal grants to the states for the construction of hospitals, public health centers, and health facilities for rehabilitation of people with disabilities.

The National Mental Health Foundation is founded by conscientious objectors who served as attendants at state mental institutions during World War II. It works to expose the abusive conditions at these facilities, and becomes an early impetus in the push for deinstitutionalization.

1948

The Act of June 10, 1948, PL 80-623, forbids “employment discrimination based on physical handicaps within the Civil Service” – mainly to protect wounded veterans of the Second World War.

1949

Leo Kanner writes “Problems of Nosology and Psychodynamics in Early Childhood Autism” (American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 19 (3): 416–26) in which he identifies a “maternal lack of genuine warmth” in autism cases. He says that autistic children “were kept neatly in refrigerators which did not defrost.” This is the birth of the idea of “.”

1950

The Association for Retarded Children of the United States (later the Association for Retarded Citizens and then the Arc) is founded in Minneapolis by representatives of various state associations of parents of mentally retarded children

1954

The U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, that separate schools for black and white children are inherently unequal and unconstitutional. This pivotal decision becomes a catalyst for the African-American civil rights movement, which in turn becomes a template for the disability rights movement.

1955

The Labor-HEW subcommittee of House Appropriations, chaired by John Fogarty, holds a hearing on mental retardation. Fogarty earmarks $500,000 to the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness and (NINDB) and $250,000 to NIMH.

1961

President Kennedy appoints a special President’s Panel on Mental Retardation.

The June 17 issue of The Saturday Evening Post carries an article by Rosalind Oppenheim, “They Said Our Child Was Hopeless,” about her autistic son’s struggle with autism. “We pray and work, too, for the estimated 500,000 mentally handicapped children who are receiving no treatment and have not even had diagnosis because there is no place to get it.”

1962

British psychiatrist Lorna Wing founds the National Autistic Society NAS in the United Kingdom.

1963

President Kennedy, in an address to Congress, calls for a reduction, “over a number of years and by hundreds of thousands, (in the number) of persons confined” to residential institutions, and he asks that methods be found “to retain in and return to the community the mentally ill and mentally retarded, and there to restore and revitalize their lives through better health programs and strengthened educational and rehabilitation services.” Though not labeled such at the time, this is a call for deinstitutionalization.

Congress passes the Mental Retardation Facilities Construction Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-164 -- later the Developmental Disabilities Act), authorizing federal support for the construction of mental retardation research centers, university-affiliated training facilities, and community service facilities for children and adults with mental retardation.

1964

Dr. Bernard Rimland publishes Infantile Autism: the Syndrome and its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior that describes the clinical features of autism in detail and also provides the first evidence that it is a biological disorder. His theories are not as well popularized as Bethlehem's, so therefore he has less of an impact on the public.

1965

Bernard Rimland and Ruth Christ Sullivan found the National Society for Autistic Children (NSAC), later the Autism Society of America (ASA).

Lyndon Johnson signs the Social Security Amendments of 1965 (P.L. 89-97), creating Medicare and Medicaid.

Psychologist develops the Applied Behavior Analysis treatment. The May 7 issue of Life gives it national publicity in “Screams, Slaps, and Love: A Surprising, Shocking Treatment Helps Far-Gone Mental Cripples.”

The California legislature recommends that the state accept responsibility for people with mental retardation before they enter state hospitals by establishing regional, community-based medical agencies that diagnose, counsel and offer continuing services. Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown signs Assembly Bill 691, authored by Assemblymen Jerome Waldie and Frank D. Lanterman, establishing two pilot regional centers for people with mental retardation.

1966

A study in Middlesex County, England, (Lotter, V. Epidemiology of autistic conditions in young children. I: Prevalence. Social , 1966, 1, 124-137) estimates the rate of autism in chil- dren at 0.04% — the most commonly cited figure until the 1980s.

1967

Bernard Rimland founds the Autism Research Institute ARI in .

Bettelheim publishes The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self in which he likens the relationship of autistic children and their parents to prisoners in concentration camps and SS guards. “The difference between the plight of prisoners in a concentration camp and the conditions which lead to autism and in children is, of course, that the child has never had a previous chance to develop much of a personality.”

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ICD of the World Health Organization classifies autism as a form of schizophrenia.

Parents found the Autism Society of America.

The Mental Retardation Amendments of 1967 (P.L. 90-170) authorizes federal funds to assist in the costs of initiating services in community mental retardation facilities.

1968

Vocational Education Act Amendments (P.L. 90-576) requires each state to earmark 10% of its basic grant for services for youth with disabilities.

1969

California Assemblyman Frank Lanterman introduces Assembly Bill 225, the Lanterman Mental Retardation Services Act, extending regional center services throughout California.

1970

Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 91-230) creates a separate Act - The Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA). Part B authorizes grants to states to assist them in initiating, expanding, and improving programs for the education of children with disabilities. EHA also establishes several competitive grant programs such as personal preparation, research and demonstration.

The Developmental Disabilities Services and Facilities Construction Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 91-517) containing the first legal definition of "developmental disabilities," includes broad responsibilities for a state planning and advisory council to plan and implement a comprehensive program of services for persons with developmental disabilities. In addition, the legislation authorized grants to support interdisciplinary training in institutions of higher education of personnel providing services to persons with developmental disabilities (currently known as university affiliated programs).

The Center for is founded in Berkeley, California. Generally recognized as the world's first independent living center, the formation of the CIL sparks the worldwide independent living movement.

1971

P.A.R.C. v. Pennsylvania, 334 F.Supp. 1257 (E.D.Pa.1971); 343 F.Supp. 279 (E.D.Pa. 1972) A class action suit filed before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of 14 children with mental retardation. Parents and advocates argue that Pennsylvania statutes violate the Equal Protection Clause. The U.S. District Court agrees and enters an order enjoining Pennsylvania from applying any statute that would postpone, deny access, or terminate a free, appropriate public education to any child with mental retardation. The Consent decree also includes important LRE language that set forth the underlying preference for the P.L. 94- 142 and the IDEA.

1972

Mills v. Board of Education, 348 F.Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972). This case was filed on behalf of seven school-aged children with disabilities seeking an injunction restraining the Board of Education of the District of Columbia from denying them access to public education. The Court states that no child should be excluded from public school on the basis of any D.C. policy or rule unless the child is offered an alternative educational program suited to meet his or her needs. Further, the Court rules that each child was entitled to a free appropriate public education regardless of the degree of disability. The parents of residents at the Willowbrook State School file suit (New York ARC v. Rockefeller) to end the appalling conditions at that institution. A television broadcast from the facility outrages the general public, which sees the inhumane treatment endured by people with developmental disabilities. This press exposure, together with the lawsuit and other advocacy, eventually moves thousands of people from the institution into community based living arrangements. Wyatt v. Stickney (344 F Supp. 387, M.D. Ala., N.D. 1972) by Frank M. Johnson, Jr., establishes the legal principle of right to treatment. The ruling sets forth minimal constitutional standards of care, treatment, and habilitation for patients involuntarily confined to public mental hospitals in Alabama.

1973

Congress passes the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112). Sections 501, 503 and 504 prohibit discrimination in federal programs and services and all other programs or services receiving federal funds. Section 504 says: “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States, shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Assemblyman Frank Lanterman authors Assembly Bill 846 expanding the regional center mandate to include other developmental disabilities. In addition to persons with mental retardation, the centers are now mandated to serve people with cerebral palsy, , autism and other neurological handicapping conditions closely related to mental retardation.

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities is organized to advocate what will become the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 1975 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.

Dutch ethologist and Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine Nikolaas Tinbergen proposes observational methods for autistic children in which mothers are taught how to be maternal.

1974

Halderman v. Pennhurst is filed in Pennsylvania on behalf of the residents of the Pennhurst State School & Hospital. The case, highlighting the horrific conditions at "state schools" for people with mental retardation, becomes an important precedent in the battle for deinstitutionalization, establishling a right to community services for people with developmental disabilities.

The first convention of People First is held in Salem, Oregon. People First becomes the largest American organization composed of and led by people with cognitive disabilities.

The Community Services Act (P.L. 93-644) stipulates that 10% of children enrolled in the Head Start program must be children with disabilities.

1975

Congress passes the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) requiring free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting. Parent and Training Information Centers are developed to help parents of disabled children exercise their rights.

The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (P.L. 94-103) creates a "bill of rights" for persons with developmental disabilities, fundes services for persons with developmental disabilities, adds a new funding authority for university affiliated facilities, and established a system of protection and advocacy organizations in each state. It lists autism by name as one of the disabilities mandated to be served.

The American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities is founded. It becomes the leading national cross-disability rights organization of the 1970s.

The Association of Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH) is founded by special education professionals in response to PARC and other right-to-education cases. This organization calls for the end of aversive and the closing of all residential institutions for people with disabilities.

U.S. Supreme Court rules in O’Connor v. Donaldson that people cannot be institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital against their will unless they are determined to be a threat to themselves or to others.

Edward Roberts becomes the Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation. He moves to establish nine independent living centers all across that state, based on the model of the original CIL in Berkeley. The success of these centers demonstrates that independent living can be replicated, and eventually results in the founding of hundreds of IL centers all over the world.

1976

Changes to the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act establish the right to treatment and habilitation services for persons with developmental disabilities. After amendments to the last category of eligibility for services, the act now reads “handicapping conditions found to be closely related to mental retardation or to require treatment similar to that required for mentally retarded individuals, but shall not include other handicapping conditions that are solely physical in nature.” An individualized planning process replaces the traditional problem-oriented record.

1977

American psychiatrist Susan Folstein and British psychiatrist Michael Rutter publish a study of autistic twins in which they prove that autism has a genetic basis.

1980s

Ole Ivar Lovaas' Applied Behavior Analysis ABA and DTT are the most common treatments.

1980

Autism is officially added to the DSM-III.

Congress passes the The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) of 1980 to protect the rights of people in state or local correctional facilities, nursing homes, mental health facilities and institutions for with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

1981

British psychiatrist Lorna Wing introduces the term Asperger's Syndrome in “Asperger's Syndrome: a Clinical Account,” Psychological Medicine 11 (February 1981): 115-129.

Ole Ivar Lovaas publishes a training book for parents called Teaching Developmentally Disabled Children.

1982

Board Of Education Of The Hendrick Hudson Central School District, Westchester County, et al., Petitioners v. Amy Rowley, by her parents, Rowley et al. Respondent 458 U. S. 176 narrows the scope of EAHCA. “The Act's legislative history shows that Congress sought to make public education available to handicapped children, but did not intend to impose upon the States any greater substantive educational standard than is necessary to make such access to public education meaningful. The Act's intent was more to open the door of public education to handicapped children by means of specialized educational services than to guarantee any particular substantive level of education once inside.”

1984

In Smith v. Robinson (468 U.S. 992 (1984)), the US Supreme Court rules that a handicapped child cannot receive an award of attorney's fees upon prevailing in an action to secure FAPE. It also asserts that a child cannot claim Section 504 as the basis for FAPE.

Developmental Disabilities Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-527) adds a statement of purpose to the Act, authorized protection and advocacy systems to have access to the records of persons with developmental disabilities residing in institutions.

The Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 (P.L. 98-457) requires states to have in place procedures with State protective systems to respond to the reporting of medical neglect, including instances of withholding medically indicated treatment from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions.

1985

The U.S. Supreme Court rules, in Burlington School Committee v. Massachusetts Dept. of Education (471 U.S. 359 (1985)), that schools must pay the expenses of disabled children enrolled in private programs during pending litigation under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, if the courts rule such placement was needed to provide the child with an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

1986

Congress passes the Public Law 99-660, the National Childhood Injury Act to reduce the liability of vaccine makers due to vaccine injury claims. The law creates the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), setting up a claim procedure involving the United States Court of Federal Claims.

The Handicapped Children's Protection Act (P.L. 99-372) overturns Smith v. Robinson and authorizes courts to award reasonable attorneys fees to parents who prevail in due process proceedings and court actions under part B of the Education of the Handicapped Act.

Congress passes the 1986 Amendments (P.L. 99-457) to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. It extends the guarantee to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to children with disabilities, ages 3-5, establishes Early Intervention Programs (EIP) for infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages 0-2, and provides for An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for each family with an infant/toddler with disabilities.

1987

The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act Amendments of 1987 (P.L. 100-146) updates language in the legislation, strengthened the independence of the State Planning Councils, strengthened authority of protection and advocacy systems to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect and created separate line items for core funding and training for university affiliated programs.

The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-242) requires HUD to earmark 15 percent of Section 202 funds for non-elderly persons with disabilities.

1988

The Civil Rights Restoration Act (P.L. 100-259) amends the Rehabilitation Act's definition of an individual with a disability and defines coverage of Section 504 as broad (e.g., extending to an entire university) rather than narrow (e.g., extending to just one department of the university) when federal funds are involved.

The movie Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise as Charlie Babbitt and Dustin Hoffman as his autistic brother Raymond.

1989

Michael Rutter, Ann LeCouteur and Catherine Lord publish an assessment for people suspected of having autism, called the Autism Diagnostic Interview ADI.

1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act (P.L. 101-336) is signed by President George Bush on July 26 in a ceremony on the White House lawn witnessed by thousands of disability rights activists. The law is the most sweeping disability rights legislation in history. It mandates that local, state and federal governments and programs be accessible, that businesses with more than 15 employees make "reasonable accommodations" for disabled workers, that public accommodations such as restaurants and stores make "reasonable modifications.” The act also mandates access in public transportation, communication, and in other areas of public life.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments (IDEA) (P.L. 101-476) renames the Education of the Handicapped Act and reauthorizes programs under the Act to improve support services to students with disabilities, especially in the areas of transition and assistive technology. Autism becomes a separate category in IDEA for special education.

The Developmental Disabilities Act Amendments of 1990 (P.L. 101-496) maintains and strengthens programs authorized under the Act.

The Autism National Committee is founded.

The New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community COSAC is founded.

Doreen Granpeesheh founds the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, or CARD.

Bruno Bettelheim commits suicide.

1992

The Play Therapy is introduced in Infancy and Early Childhood: The Practice of Clinical Assessment by Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder.

1994

The National Alliance for Autism Research is established by Karen and Eric London.

Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Amendments of 1993 (P.L. 103-230) totally rewrites and updates provisions pertaining to State Planning Councils and extends and strengthens provisions pertaining to protection and advocacy systems, university affiliated programs and programs of national significance.

1995

Cure Autism Now is founded.

1996

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) provides a new, more restrictive, definition of disability for children under the Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) focusing on functional limitations, mandates changes to the evaluation process for claims and continuing disability reviews and requires redeterminations to be performed before a child turns 18.

Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-204) includes a provision that prohibits insurance companies from having lower lifetime caps for treatment of mental illness compared with treatment of other medical conditions.

1997

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (P.L. 105-17) includes the first major changes to part B since enactment in 1975, extends the early intervention program, and includes a significant streamlining of the discretionary programs.

The Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center SARRC is founded.

Richard Pollack reveals in The Creation of Dr. B., the biography that the Refrigerator Mother and Undemonstrative Father theory was not backed by sufficient evidence.

1998

British-born Canadian surgeon and others publish a controversial study in the Lancet about bowel symptoms of MMR vaccinated children diagnosed with disorders.

First Signs is founded.

NFL quarterback Doug and Laurie Flutie found The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism.

1999

Two studies in The Lancet conclude that there is no link between MMR shots and autism.

Unlocking Autism launches the Open Your Eyes project with pictures of autistic people.

In Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring (527 U.S. 581 (1999)), the US Supreme Court rules that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires placement of mentally disabled patients in "integrated settings" when they are medically cleared for such settings, they express a desire for such settings, and the necessary resources are available.

2000

President Clinton signs the Children’s Health Act, founding the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). The bill also calls for NIH to establish centers of excellence in autism research, and strengthens federal autism surveillance activities to track the prevalence of autism.

Talk About Curing Autism TACA if established in Newport Beach, California.

The Coalition for Safe Minds, Sensible Action For Ending -Induced is founded.

The National Institutes of Health NIH of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that autism affects 1 in 500 children.

Dr Wakefield and John O’Leary, of Coombe Women’s Hospital in Dublin, tell the House Government Reform and Oversight committee that there is “compelling evidence” of a link between and autism.

2001

NIH now states that autism affects 1 in 250 children.

The Organization for Autism Research OAR is founded.

The Coalition for Safe Minds reveals CDC documents in which should be reported that children who are exposed to Thimerosal vaccines were more likely to develop autism. First lawsuit against the manufacturers of the Thimerosal vaccines.

The Institute of Medicine IOM of the United States National Academy of Sciences does not exclude a connection between Thimerosal and autism.

U.S. Republican Congressmen Christopher Smith and Democrat Congressmen Mike Doyle propose the Congressional Autism Caucus CARE for research and education.

2002

The U.S. Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program receives compensation requests in which parents state that some vaccines are causing autism.

Director David E. Simpson creates the movie Refrigerator Mothers.

2003

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC states there is no direct link between Thimerosal and autism.

The National Autism Association is founded.

First Annual Autism One Conference.

Michael Carley founds the Global and Regional Partnership.

2004

The Lancet announces a partial retraction of the 1998 paper, on grounds of “a fatal conflict of interest” — The Sunday Times has reported that Dr Wakefield received £55,000 from the Legal Aid Board for research to support legal action by parents who claimed that their children had been harmed by MMR.

The Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences doesn't support theories that autism is related to vaccine. President Bush is reported to support the removal of Thimerosal from childhood vaccine programs.

New York journalist David Kirby publishes Evidence of Harm , Mercury in Vaccines and The Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy.

The British government outlaws child vaccines that contain Thimerosal elements.

2005

Autism Speaks is founded.

Psychiatrist Larry Kaplan establishes the U.S. Autism and Asperger Association for support and education.

Generation Rescue advertising campaign on symptoms of autism and childhood mercury poisoning in national news papers.

Moms Against Mercury is founded in North Carolina.

Florida, Texas, Washington, Maryland and Nebraska ban Thimerosal vaccines. Open letter request from Unlocking Autism to President Bush to outlaw the use of mercury.

CDC campaign on the need of early diagnosis for infant autism.

Launch of Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.

2006

There are approximately 300,000 children diagnosed with autism in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cornell University researcher Michael Waldman reports a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and early childhood television watching.

The passed U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. President Bush signs The Combating Autism Act Of 2006.

Autism Speaks merges with the National Alliance for Autism Research.

2007

Scientists find genetic bases of autism spectrum disorders.

CDC now estimates that autism affects 1 in 150 U.S. children.

The Senate designates April as National Autism Awareness Month.

Start of the class-action law suit on thousands of mercury-autism claims contend at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Autism Speaks completes merger with Cure Autism Now.

2010

Special masters appointed by the Court of Federal Claims soundly reject the claim that vaccines cause autism.

Dr Wakefield is struck off the medical register in a final hearing after being found guilty of “multiple separate instances of serious professional misconduct.” He is found to have “abused his position of trust” and brought the medical profession into disrepute.

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