autisticadj.n.
/ɔːˈtɪstɪk/, U.S. /ɔˈtɪstɪk/, /ɑˈtɪstɪk/ A. adj.
1. Of the nature of or characterized by autism (autism n. 1); detached from reality. Now historical.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > schizophrenia > autistic
autistic1911
1911 Jrnl. Mental Sci. 57 382 All these patients are in a high degree autistic, by which term Bleuler means turned in on themselves.
1913 E. Bleuler in Amer. Jrnl. Insanity 69 874 We find amongst all normal people many and important instances where thought is divorced both from logic and from reality. I have called these forms of thinking autistic.
1927 Jrnl. Amer. Instit. Criminal Law & Criminol. 18 411 It [sc. solitary confinement] leads to..autistic day-dreaming.
1962 Philos. Sci. 29 196 We have often slighted the function which science serves in keeping man from constructing his world views in a purely autistic way.
1995 V. Hamilton in F. Tustin Autism & Childhood Psychosis Foreword p. xi Her views on autistic states of mind and the genesis of..childhood psychosis.
2.
a. Of the nature of or relating to autism (autism n. 2); affected with or characteristic of autism.
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1942 L. Kanner Let. 28 Sept. in J. Donvan & C. Zucker In Different Key (2016) iii. 37 If there is any name to be applied to the condition of Don and those other children..I have found it best to speak of it as ‘autistic disturbance of affective contact.’
1968 Woman 27 Jan. 56/4 Our hospital..is by no means the only one with an autistic unit.
1973 Drama Rev. 17 32 Where play is not autistic it is outer-directed, ultimately involving playmates.
2001 Times 11 Dec. (Times2 section) 10/2 If a child is found to be autistic, the expectations around him can change and pressure can be lifted.
2016 Jrnl. Mod. Lit. 39 iv. 190 The Wordsworthian tradition..might be close to the kind of attentiveness autistic minds give to their surroundings.
b. In weakened use and colloquial (potentially offensive even when used without derogatory intent). Displaying any of various traits which might be considered suggestive of autism, such as awkwardness in social situations, restricted interests, or repetitive patterns of behaviour. Cf. spectrum n. Additions b.
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1989 E. Segal Doctors xxii. 287 The suddenly autistic neurologist groped for an appropriate response.
1997 J. Hawes Rancid Aluminium (1998) xxiv. 311 Some hitman hired by Gerry's bosses... Some autistic killer who would only be doing his job.
2006 Independent (Nexis) 9 May 6 Mr Brown answers questions in that autistic way he has.
2015 Sun (Nexis) 27 Feb. 42 My boyfriend is loving and kind in some situations but in others he hasn't a clue. I'm beginning to think he's a bit autistic.
B. n.
A person affected with autism (in either sense). Chiefly in plural. Cf. autist n.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > schizophrenia > autism > person
autist1922
autistic1940
1940 Jrnl. Psychol. 10 355 Controlled autistics often turn the traits associated with strong imagination into great service.
1968 Woman 27 Jan. 24/2 There are over 4,000 diagnosed autistics in this country.
1999 Daily Tel. 31 Aug. 31/4 Three disabled women—a stroke victim, an autistic, the third with chronic arthritis.
2009 New Yorker 11 May 86/2 Using..transcranial magnetic stimulation..to influence brain plasticity in autistics.
Compounds
autistic spectrum n. = autism spectrum n. at autism n. Compounds.
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1957 Canad. Psychiatric Assoc. Jrnl. Jan. 4 If all insidious..schizophrenics begin within a childhood autistic spectrum.
1978 S. M. Frank et al. in H. Goldstein Exceptional Children 466/1 Most had language abilities which placed them at the highly functioning end of the autistic spectrum.
1997 Irish Jrnl. Psychol. Med. 14 132/2 Children with symptoms along the autistic spectrum continue to have attachment difficulties..throughout their lives.
2010 R. Tutin My Child is Autistic i. 3 Not..every child diagnosed on the autistic spectrum could achieve what my little boy has achieved.
autistic spectrum disorder n. = autism spectrum disorder n. at autism n. Compounds; abbreviated ASD.
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1983 C. E. Walker & M. C. Roberts Handbk. Clin. Child Psychol. xi. 272/2 Autistic spectrum disorder: a genetic study.
1998 Jrnl. Speech-lang. Pathol. & Audiol. 22 71/2 This ambiguity has been intensified..by the use of a broader range of autism-related diagnoses, such as autistic spectrum disorder.
2006 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 16 Nov. n13 Family members and individuals with autistic spectrum disorders meet Wednesday mornings.
2015 R. A. Bergemann Asperger's Guide Public Speaking i. 12 For most of us with an autistic spectrum disorder working in the business world, public speaking is..not something that we tend to focus on.
Derivatives
auˈtistically adv.
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1913 E. Bleuler in Amer. Jrnl. Insanity 69 884 The unconscious can think logically or autistically.
1946 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 16 Feb. 235/2 In the next fourteen days such autistically inclined hallucinatory states alternated with outbursts of sudden aggression.
2004 I. M. Banks Algebraist iv. 264 They were big on scurrying but almost autistically shy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1911