Sukhareva's (1930) 'Toward the problem of the structure and dynamics of children's constitutional psychopathies (Schizoid forms)': a translation with commentary.

This is a translation of a 1930s Russian doctor's work describing children who sound very much like autistic children today. Dr. Sukhareva studied children with what she called 'schizoid' behaviours at a psychiatric institute in Moscow. Her detailed observations from nearly 100 years ago help us understand how autism was viewed historically, even before it had a name.

This 2023 publication presents an English translation of G.E. Sukhareva's 1930 Russian research report on children with 'schizoid forms' of constitutional psychopathies. Sukhareva, working at Moscow's Psycho-Neurological Institute, described children who closely resembled what we now understand as autistic children. The translation includes new case material and theoretical elaborations from Sukhareva's clinical work in residential and outpatient psychiatric settings.

This represents at least her third publication on schizoid children, delivered at the same 1930 Leningrad conference where Lev Vygotsky presented on 'difficult children'. The work provides important historical context for understanding the early conceptualization of autism-like presentations in children.

This historical work provides valuable context for understanding how autism-like presentations were conceptualized before formal diagnostic criteria existed. It may inform current clinical practice by offering insights into long-standing patterns of autism presentation and the evolution of diagnostic thinking.

This is a historical translation rather than new research. The abstract does not specify the number of cases described or detailed methodological information about Sukhareva's original observations and clinical assessments.

This article constitutes a translation from the Russian of G.E. Sukhareva's research report entitled (in English) 'Toward the problem of the structure and dynamics of children's constitutional psychopathies (Schizoid forms)', which she delivered at the 'behavioral' conference in Leningrad in early 1930. Lev Vygotsky also presented on 'difficult children' in the same session of this conference. Sukhareva worked as a clinician for many years in residential and out-patient psychiatric settings at the Psycho-Neurological Institute in Moscow.

This is (at least) the third of Sukhareva's publications on schizoid children, preceding her subsequent work on schizophrenia and oligophrenia (intellectual disability). Here she offers new case material, and further theoretical elaboration, concerning children diagnosed as schizoid, who closely resembled what we now think of as autistic children. We include background information useful to contextualize this work historically, and commentary on some of the questions raised for the 'history of autism' by Sukhareva's work.