Lorna Wing

Lorna Wing
Born	Lorna Gladys Tolchard (1928-10-07)7 October 1928 Gillingham Kent
Died	Kent, England
Nationality	British
Institutions	Medical Research Council Social Psychiatry Unit Institute of Psychiatry King's College London
Alma mater	University College Hospital London Chatham Grammar School for Girls
Known for	childhood developmental disorders autism spectrum diagnosis Asperger Syndrome
Notable awards	Order of the British Empire (1994) Honorary Fellow, University College London (2012) Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatry
Spouse	John Wing

Lorna Wing, OBE, FRCPsych (7 October 1928 – 6 June 2014) was an English psychiatrist and physician. She was a pioneer in the field of childhood developmental disorders who advanced understanding of autism worldwide, a leader in her field who introduced the term Asperger Syndrome and was involved in founding the National Autistic Society (NAS) in the UK.

Early life

She was born Lorna Gladys Tolchard to Bernard and Gladys Tolchard in Gillingham, Kent and following education at Chatham Grammar School for Girls, commenced medical training at University College Hospital in 1949. After qualifying as a psychiatrist, her first post was at the Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London (now part of King's College London).

Academic career

Wing trained as a medical doctor, specialising in psychiatry. Her focus changed to childhood developmental disorders in 1959. At that time autism was thought to affect around 5 in 10,000 children, but its prevalence in the 2010s is considered to be around 1 in 100 following the awareness raised by Wing and her followers. Her research, particularly with her collaborator Judith Gould, now underpins thinking in the field of autism. They initiated the Camberwell Case Register to record all patients using psychiatric services in this region of London. The data accumulated by this innovative approach gave Wing the basis for her influential insight that autism formed a spectrum, rather than clearly differentiated disorders. They also set up the Centre for Social and Communication Disorders, the first integrated diagnostic and advice service for these conditions in the UK.

Wing was the author of many books and academic papers, including Asperger Syndrome: a Clinical Account, a 1981 academic paper that popularised the research of Hans Asperger and introduced the term "Asperger syndrome". Although groundbreaking and influential, Wing herself cautioned in her 1981 paper that "It must be pointed out that the people described by the present author all had problems of adjustment or superimposed psychiatric illnesses severe enough to necessitate referral to a psychiatric clinic ... (and) the series described here is probably biased towards those with more severe handicaps."

She joined with other parents of autistic children to found the organisation now known as the National Autistic Society in the United Kingdom in 1962. She was a consultant to NAS Lorna Wing Centre for Autism until she died. She was also President of Autism Sussex.

Personal life

Wing met her future husband (John Wing, 22 October 1923 – 18 April 2010) while they were dissecting the same body as medical students. They married in 1951. She became involved in researching developmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders following their realisation that their daughter Susie (1956–2005) was autistic.

She died on 6 June 2014 in Kent.

Papers

• Wing, L. & Gould, J. (1979), "Severe Impairments of Social Interaction and Associated Abnormalities in Children: Epidemiology and Classification", Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 9, pp. 11–29.
• Wing, L. (1980). "Childhood Autism and Social Class: a Question of Selection?", British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, pp. 410–417.
• Burgoine, E. & Wing, L. (1983), "Identical triplets with Asperger's Syndrome", British Journal of Psychiatry, 143, pp. 261–265.
• Wing, L. and Attwood, A. (1987), "Syndromes of Autism and Atypical Development", in Cohen, D. & Donnellan, A. (eds.), Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Disorders, New York, John Wiley & Sons.
• Wing, L. (1991), "The Relationship Between Asperger's Syndrome and Kanner's Autism", in Frith, U. (ed.), Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
• Wing, L. (1992), "Manifestations of Social Problems in High Functioning Autistic People", in Schopler, E. & Mesibov, G. (eds.), High Functioning Individuals with Autism, New York, Plenum Press.

Books

• 1964, Autistic Children
• 1966, Physiological Measures, Sedative Drugs and Morbid Anxiety, with M.H. Lader
• 1969, Children Apart: Autistic Children and Their Families
• 1969, Teaching Autitistic Children: Guidelines for Teachers
• 1971, Autistic Children: a Guide for Parents
• 1975, Early Childhood Autism: Clinical, Educational and Social Aspects (editor)
• 1975, What is Operant conditioning?
• 1988, Aspects of Autism: Biological Research (editor)
• 1989, Hospital Closure and the Resettlement of Residents: Case of Darenth Park Mental Handicap Hospital
• 1995, Autistic Spectrum Disorders: an Aid to Diagnosis
• 1996, The Autistic Spectrum: a Guide for Parents and Professionals
• 2002, Smiling at Shadows: a Mother's Journey Raising an Autistic Child (with Junee Waites, Helen Swinbourne).

External links

• NAS.org.uk – National Autistic Society