Leo Kanner
Leo Kanner (; born
Chaskel Leib Kanner; June 13, 1894 – April 3, 1981) was an Austrian-American
psychiatrist, physician, and social activist best known for his work related to
infantile autism. Before working at the
Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Kanner practiced as a physician in Germany and
South Dakota. In 1943, Kanner published his landmark paper ''Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact'', describing 11 children who displayed "a powerful desire for aloneness" and "an obsessive insistence on persistent sameness." He named their condition "early infantile autism". Kanner was in charge of developing the first
child psychiatry clinic in the United States and later served as the ''Chief of Child Psychiatry'' at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is one of the co-founders of
The Children's Guild, a
nonprofit organization serving children, families and child-serving organizations throughout Maryland and Washington, D.C., and dedicated to "Transforming how America Cares for and Educates its Children and Youth." He is widely considered one of the most influential American psychiatrists of the 20th century.
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