Peter Szatmari (born 1950) is a Canadian researcher of

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

and

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

Education and career

Szatmari was born in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, and his family moved to Toronto in 1953. He attended the

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...

before going to study at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

, where he majored in philosophy and psychology. He went on to attend medical school at

and obtained his M.D. in 1976. He completed his residency training at the same institution with British psychiatrist David Charles Taylor. From 1981 to 2013, Szatmari was employed at

as physician at the McMaster Children's Hospital and a faculty member at

, reaching the title of a Professor and Vice-Chair of Research at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. He was also the director of the research training program in the department, and a member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies. Dr. Szatmari is Editor of the journal, ''Evidence-Based Mental Health'', and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals. In 2013, Szatmari moved to

the Hospital for Sick Children ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

and the

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, pronounced , ) is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It reports being the largest research facility in Can ...

. He also became the director of the Division of Child and Youth Mental Health at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Research

Szatmari is known for his writings on Aspergers genetics, infant studies, and PET and MRI studies. He is also known for his diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome.Szatmari, P., Brenner, R. and Nagy, J. (1989) Asperger's syndrome: A review of clinical features. ''Canadian Journal of Psychiatry'' 34, pp. 554-560. Szatmari helped to set up the

Pervasive Developmental Disorder The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), was a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and ...

(PDD) team at Chedoke Child and Family Centre, a regional diagnostic and treatment program for children with a PDD diagnosis, in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

. Szatmari is currently part of the Autism Genome Project.

Diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome

Szatmari's

diagnostic criteria Medical diagnosis (abbreviated Dx, Dx, or Ds) is the process of determining which disease or condition explains a person's symptoms and signs. It is most often referred to as a diagnosis with the medical context being implicit. The information r ...

were published in 1989 and cover five main areas: solitary (i.e. lack of friends), impaired social interaction (i.e. difficulty relating to others), impaired nonverbal communication (i.e. not understanding body language), odd speech patterns (i.e. different use of words), and that Asperger syndrome does not meet the criteria for autistic disorder as defined in the DSM-III-R. Szatmari suggests that AS was promoted as a diagnosis to spark more research into the syndrome: "It was introduced into the official classification systems in 1994 and has grown in popularity as a diagnosis, even though its validity has not been clearly established. It was introduced not so much as an indication of its status as a 'true' disorder, but more to stimulate research ... its validity is very much in question."Stoddart, K. P. (Editor) (2005). "Children, Youth and Adults with Asperger Syndrome: Integrating Multiple Perspectives." London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. . p. 239.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szatmari, Peter 1950 births Autism researchers Living people Academic staff of McMaster University Academic staff of the University of Toronto McMaster University alumni Cognitive neuroscientists Canadian neuroscientists Upper Canada College alumni People from Regina, Saskatchewan