The term `` Asperger 's syndrome '' did n't come into widespread usage until 1981 . Alzheimer , Addison and Crohn used to be just names of people . But they are now attached to the diseases that they identified or studied . Austrian Dr. Hans Asperger described autistic syndrome in 1944 . He was a child prodigy who had been diagnosed with autism at age 5 by his parents.
Alzheimer , Addison and Crohn used to be just names of people . But they are now attached to the diseases that they identified or studied . Austrian Dr. Hans Asperger described autistic syndrome in 1944 . He was a child prodigy who had been diagnosed with autism at age 5 by his parents.