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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

But when the specious claims are directed at the parents of autistic children, the situation has gone from silly to malevolent.
FDA Moves to Crack Down on Quack Autism ‘Cures’ Russell Saunders April 28, 2014

He had a kid who was autistic, and she wanted to make sure the kid had a mom.
A Girl Power Blockbuster Nicole LaPorte February 6, 2010

The families, whose kids were autistic, had nowhere to turn: The pedophile had fled the country.
Exclusive: ‘X-Men’ Sex Abuse Lawyer Says He Was Assaulted, Too Tim Teeman May 5, 2014

It does not appear that Jett received the early intervention recommended for autistic children.
Travolta’s Scientology Turning Point? Kim Masters September 26, 2009

There are plenty of autistic adults it purports to speak on behalf of.
“Autism Speaks”- but Should Everyone Listen? Emily Shire June 12, 2014

“Lisbeth Salander is autistic or has Asperger’s,” Ragot points out.
Dragon Tattoo Star Narrowed to Final Four Gina Piccalo, Claire Martin July 26, 2010

Historical Examples

It cannot afford to be autistic, but must meet objective or social standards.
Psychology Robert S. Woodworth

(a) The autistic retirement of the patient into his own phantasies.
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology C. G. Jung

autistic thinking gratifies some desire and that is enough for it.
Psychology Robert S. Woodworth

It is, in psychological language, the region of autistic as contrasted with realistic thought.
The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day Evelyn Underhill

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

1912 (Bleuler), from autism (q.v.). Noun meaning “person with autism” is recorded from 1968 (earlier in this sense was autist).
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.