infantile autism
- noun
- /ˈɪnfənˌtaɪl ˈɔːtɪzəm/
- Archaic
:
autismo infantil
- The child was diagnosed with infantile autism at an early age, which affected his ability to communicate with others.
Examples
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Due to her infantile autism, she sometimes struggles to understand social cues that other kids pick up easily.
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Parents of children with infantile autism often seek therapy to help improve their social skills.
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I'm talking about entrusting an eight-year-old's welfare in the hands of someone whose records show he was diagnosed with infantile autism, mental retardation...
Fiction book (2001) -
While my survey did not refer specifically to schizophrenia, I feel confident that one's ideology on infantile autism could not be much different from one's ideology on schizophrenia.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
131
4.8
A developmental condition causing difficulty with social interaction, communication, and repetitive behavior
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a form of autism occurring in infancy/early childhood' is directly and compositionally derived from 'infantile' (relating to infants) + 'autism' (a developmental condition affecting communication and behavior). This adjective+noun combination follows a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern (e.g. Spanish 'autismo infantil'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Infantile autism comes from two parts: infantile meaning 'very young child' and autism from a word for being 'alone' or focused on the self. Early doctors used this name for young children who kept to themselves and had trouble talking to others, so today infantile autism refers to a serious childhood condition with strong social and language difficulties.