Kanner

Kanner is a surname of German origin, used by various individuals, particularly in German-speaking and Jewish communities.

The most prominent figure with this name is Leo Kanner (1894–1981), an Austrian-born American child psychiatrist who, in 1943, published a landmark study describing a group of children with severe difficulties in social interaction and communication, along with restricted and repetitive behaviors. He termed the condition early infantile autism, and his paper "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact" is widely cited as the first clinical description of autism, helping establish autism as a distinct developmental disorder. Kanner spent much of his career contributing to early research in child psychiatry.

Legacy and terminology: The phrase "Kanner syndrome" appeared in some early autism literature but is now considered outdated, and modern practice uses autism spectrum disorder to encompass a range of presentations.

Beyond Leo Kanner, the surname has been borne by other individuals who have contributed to various fields, but no other widely recognized concept is primarily associated with the word "Kanner."