There is a debate regarding Kanners research as some agree with his views on new ideas about autism while some scientists totally disagree with him on the point stating that autism is like any other brain disorder. The fact is that they refuse to accept autism as a type of syndrome because of the difference of opinion in Kanners research.
Some medical scientists who accepted Kanners thoughts followed his theories in their practice. But some who found it confusing started identifying all people with neurological problems as autistic misreading the studies of Kanner.
In late seventies another scientist Rutter developed new theories which could explain autism on the whole. To bring an end to the confusion he modified the Kanners concept of autism. Here are some of the new principles presented by Rutter in diagnosing autism.
Symptoms of autism begin in infancy by the age of three. Strange development socially observed from intellectual progress, poor communication skill, difficulty in adapting to the surroundings, repetitive behavior, and stick to the same practice.
Kanner says that autism and intellectual development are two different factors, Rutter says that the concept of autism is based on the intellectual progress. Rutter proved that autism is identified with the level of performance of intellectual development and Kanner symptoms and lack of cognitive skill go together. Although autistic persons have good memory and good logical skills their damaged mental skill does not allow them to exhibit it. This aspect was absent in Kanners studies.
Thus Rutters research has cleared many aspects of autism helping in spotting autism in a specific and accessible way. This was a giants leap in the practice of psychiatry which was not investigated earlier. Identify autism easily nowadays irrespective of many vague features said by Kanner.
