Dirk Arnold van Krevelen, een vergeten autismepionier

Abstract

Dirk Arnold van Krevelen (1909-1979) was one of the world’s most prominent child psychiatrists and autism researchers, but has been forgotten aft er his death. Th e director of the Curium clinic in Oegstgeest and lecturer in child psychiatry at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden was one of the fi rst to compare the work of Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner, argued early on that autism was a genetic disorder, and spoke out against pedagogues, psychologists, and psychiatrists who blamed mothers for their child’s autism. Th is article discusses Van Krevelen’s work, especially his contributions to autism research, in an eff ort to rehabilitate him.