Smiling Response, Stranger Anxiety, and Autistic Disorder

Letter to the Editor I would like to suggest that an enterprising young colleague conduct a series of experiments to explore the following hypotheses: One: Infants who develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have an absent, delayed, or modified ‘‘Smiling Response’’. Two: ‘‘Infants who develop ASD have an absent, delayed, or modified ‘‘Stranger Anxiety Response’’. The background for this suggestion comes from a lecture I attended while a resident in psychiatry at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Harvard Medical School in 1958. Dr. Rene Spitz, the world-renowned Austrian psychologist and expert on infant development was presenting at Grand Rounds; (To the best of my recollection).