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Psychiatry. a pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment: now considered one of the .
a tendency to view life in terms of one’s own needs and desires.
Contemporary Examples

For these employees, autism Speaks spent $2,252,334 in 2012, according to tax filings.
“Autism Speaks”- but Should Everyone Listen? Emily Shire June 12, 2014

He cites its nation-wide town-hall meetings to encourage people to hire those with autism.
“Autism Speaks”- but Should Everyone Listen? Emily Shire June 12, 2014

It is also important to contextualize how many cases of autism could be accounted for if a causal link to SSRI proved true.
Expectant Moms, Don’t Ditch SSRIs Over Autism Fears Just Yet Emily Shire April 16, 2014

autism spectrum disorders have increased by 30 percent in just two years.
Rise in Autism Diagnoses Doesn’t Surprise Doctors Russell Saunders March 28, 2014

They apparently took that as a sign of suspicious activity, even though that can be a hallmark of people on the autism spectrum.
Worse Than Eric Garner: Cops Who Got Away With Killing Autistic Men and Little Girls Emily Shire December 3, 2014

Companies are discovering the untapped brainpower of a group long thought ill suited to the office: adults on the autism spectrum.
Companies Discover Untapped Brainpower: Autistics Joshua Kendall July 20, 2013

We need to know what the role of gut inflammation is in autism.
The Vaccine-Autism Fraud’s Surprising History Seth Mnookin January 12, 2011

Milk as a cause of or worsener of autism will have to join the long list of other putative causes.
No, PETA, Cow Milk Does Not Cause Autism Kent Sepkowitz May 29, 2014

Moreover, the DSM changes risk an erosion of the autism spectrum at the higher-functioning end.
Don’t Remove Asperger’s From the DSM Lucy Berrington May 20, 2011

Historical Examples

Psychedelics have also sometimes been used for the terminally ill and in certain cases of autism.
When You Don’t Know Where to Turn Steven J. Bartlett

noun
(psychiatry) a developmental disorder whose symptoms include difficulty in responding conventionally to people and actions and limited use of communication
n.

1912, from German Autismus, coined 1912 by Swiss psychiatrist Paul Bleuler (1857-1939) from comb. form of Greek autos- “self” (see auto-) + -ismos suffix of action or of state. The notion is of “morbid self-absorption.”

autism au·tism (ô’tĭz’əm)
n.

Abnormal introversion and egocentricity; acceptance of fantasy rather than reality.

Infantile autism.

au·tis’tic (ô-tĭs’tĭk) adj.
autism
(ô’tĭz’əm)
A developmental disorder characterized by severe deficits in social interaction and communication and by abnormal behavior patterns, such as the repetition of specific movements or a tendency to focus on certain objects. Autism is evident in the first years of life. Its cause is unknown.

autistic adjective
autism [(aw-tiz-uhm)]

A serious disorder appearing in childhood and characterized by the child’s refusal to relate to other people and severely limited use of language. The cause of autism in children is unknown, but researchers generally feel that it lies in a malfunction of the central nervous system, not in the way parents have treated them or in other aspects of their environment. The term is sometimes applied, more loosely, to adults who are extremely self-absorbed and who see things in terms of their hopes and fantasies rather than realistically.

A psychiatric disorder marked by deficits in communication and social interaction.