Autism: Viewpoint on the Brain Disorder

19. Forgotten History

1 -

Unexpected research results

2 -

Complacency, the persisting interpretation

Experiments with monkeys on asphyxia at birth were undertaken in the 1950s
to investigate ways to prevent cerebral palsy. The outcome was not cerebral
palsy, and damage to the brain was confined to the brainstem. The pattern of
damage in the brainstem was reported to resemble that associated with
neonatal bilirubin toxicity, a serious form of cerebral palsy. However, the
monkeys subjected to asphyxia appeared to outgrow initial delays in motor
development, and the brainstem damage was suggested to underlie the
condition then known as "minimal cerebral dysfunction," or MCD. Pervasive
developmental disorder, PDD, is the term now used, and few people would
consider the learning disabilities and life-long handicaps, such as poor manual
dexterity, to be minimal.

Contents

Views of
Autism

Language
Disorder

Chronology

References

Notes

Index

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