A comparison of five diagnostic systems for childhood schizophrenia and infantile autism

Five diagnostic systems designed to differentiate infantile autism and early childhood schizophrenia were compared by deriving scores on 44 children referred consecutively to the same clinical center. While the autistic scales devised by Rimland, Polan and Spencer, Lotter, and the British Working Party correlated significantly, the degree of correspondence (35%) indicated that several children obtained high autistic scores in one system but low scores in another. The BWP's term “schizophrenia” has more correspondence with the term “autism” used by others than with Rimland's “schizophrenia.” In the DeMyer-Churchill categorical system (early schizophrenia, primary autism, secondary autism, and non-psychotic subnormal), “primary autism” most resembles Rimland's concept of infantile autism as measured by his E-1 version. All other systems differentiate psychotic from non-psychotic children but do not distinguish any of the psychotic subgroups.