The concept of autism is a significant contribution from child psychiatry that has entered wider culture and public consciousness, and has evolved significantly over the last four decades. Taking a rather personal retrospective, reflecting on our own time in autism research, this review explores changes in the concept of autism and the implications of these for future research. We focus on seven major changes in how autism is thought of, operationalised, and recognised: (1) from a narrow definition to wide diagnostic criteria; (2) from a rare to a relatively common condition, although probably still under-recognised in women; (3) from something affecting children, to a lifelong condition; (4) from something discreet and distinct, to a dimensional view; (5) from one thing to many 'autisms', and a compound or 'fractionable' condition; (6) from a focus on 'pure' autism, to recognition that complexity and comorbidity is the norm; and finally, (7) from conceptualising autism purely as a 'developmental disorder', to recognising a neurodiversity perspective, operationalised in participatory research models. We conclude with some challenges for the field and suggestions for areas currently neglected in autism research.

中文翻译：

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年度研究回顾：回顾过去，展望未来——自闭症概念的变化以及对未来研究的影响。

自闭症的概念是儿童精神病学的重大贡献，它已进入更广泛的文化和公众意识，并在过去四十年中发生了显着的演变。这篇综述以相当个人化的回顾方式，反思我们自己在自闭症研究中的时代，探讨了自闭症概念的变化以及这些变化对未来研究的影响。我们重点关注自闭症的思考、操作和认识方式的七大变化：（1）从狭义的定义到广泛的诊断标准；(2) 从罕见到相对常见的病症，尽管在女性中可能仍未得到充分认识；(3)从影响儿童的事情，到终生的状况；（4）从谨慎而独特的事物到立体的观点；(5) 从一种到多种“自闭症”，以及复合或“可分割”的病症；（6）从关注“纯粹”自闭症，到认识到复杂性和共病是常态；最后，（7）从将自闭症纯粹概念化为“发育障碍”，到认识到神经多样性的观点，并在参与性研究模型中实施。最后，我们对该领域提出了一些挑战，并对目前自闭症研究中被忽视的领域提出了建议。