1938-1944 (A Few Quotes)

Leo Kanner was a doctor in the U.S and described more acute cases of Autism.

"Television first became commercialized in the U.S. in the early 1940s, initially by RCA (through NBC, which it owned) and CBS. A number of different broadcast systems had been developed through the end of the 1930s."

-History of American Television, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_the_United_States



"Autism was first identified as a condition in a paper by Leo Kanner in 1943. Kanner described eleven young boys he had seen as patients who had significant and similar deficiencies including deficiencies concerning language development, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors...


"Except for the related paper of Hans Asperger a year later in 1944, there were no other contemporary descriptions of the condition. So, although it is not necessarily the case, it seems reasonable to think that prevalence of the condition was very low both during and prior to this time period."

-"Does Television Watching Cause Autism,"
Michael Waldman, Cornell University, 2006


Hans Asperger was a doctor in Austria who described less acute cases of Autism.


"...autistic langauge is not directed to the addressee but is often spoken as if into empty space.." (70).

- Hans Asperger, Conclusions to "Autistic Psycopathology," 1944
website: Bill Long, 2007, http://www.drbilllong.com/Autism/AspergerIII.html



In the 1930's the radio became the major form of mass media in industrialized counrties. (Wikipedia, "1930s")




In context with the other letters so far, these events are interesting.