Who first used the term autism in psychiatry?

The term "autism" was first coined in 1911 by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler.12

It is important to clarify that Bleuler did not use the term to describe the developmental disorder known today; rather, he used it to describe a specific symptom of withdrawal into one's inner world observed in patients with schizophrenia.12

The application of the term to describe the condition as it is currently understood originated in 1943 with the Austrian-born American psychiatrist Leo Kanner, who identified it as a distinct clinical syndrome in children. Additionally, the Austrian physician Hans Asperger used the terms "autistic" and "autism" in 1938 to describe a similar group of children, though he acknowledged that the terminology had originally been introduced by Bleuler.132