The word “autism” which has been in use for about 100 years, comes from the Latin autismus and the Ancient Greek αὐτός (autos, “self”). The term describes conditions in which a person is removed from social interaction — hence, an isolated self.
Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, was the first person to use the term. He started using it around 1911 to refer to one group of symptoms of schizophrenia.
In the 1940s, researchers in the United States began to use the term “autism” to describe children with emotional or social problems. Leo Kanner, a doctor from Johns Hopkins University, used it to describe the withdrawn behavior of several children he studied. At about the same time, Hans Asperger, a scientist in Germany, identified a similar condition that’s now called Asperger’s syndrome.
This video shows how communication and simple everyday activities look through the eyes of Carly Fleischmann; a young girl living with non-verbal Autism. Source.