Who they are
Lorna Wing (1928–2014) was a British psychiatrist who, more than any other single figure, shaped how autism is understood as a spectrum. She co-founded the National Autistic Society (UK) in 1962, was the parent of an autistic daughter (Susie), and spent her career bridging the gap between clinical research and the practical needs of autistic people and their families. She worked at the MRC Social Psychiatry Unit and later at the Centre for Social and Communication Disorders (now the Lorna Wing Centre).
Wing made two foundational contributions: introducing the autism spectrum and bringing Asperger’s work to the English-speaking world. Both continue to shape how the field understands autism, including sensory processing.
Key contributions
The autism spectrum concept
Before Wing, autism was understood as narrow and severe (Kanner’s autism) with rigid boundaries. Wing argued that autism is a spectrum of related conditions varying in severity and presentation. Her 1979 Camberwell study described the “triad of impairments” and showed these features existed on a continuum, not a discrete category.
This reframing had enormous consequences. It expanded diagnosis to include people who were clearly autistic but didn’t meet Kanner’s criteria. It also initiated debates about diagnostic boundaries that continue today (see The diagnosis question).
Introducing Asperger to the English-speaking world
Wing’s 1981 paper “Asperger’s syndrome: a clinical account” was the first major English-language description of Asperger’s work. (Uta Frith later translated the original 1944 paper in 1991.) Wing coined the term “Asperger syndrome” and described a group of autistic people with strong verbal ability and average-to-high intelligence who nonetheless experienced the same triad of social, communicative, and flexibility differences. This brought a previously invisible population into clinical recognition.
Epidemiological work
Wing and Gould’s Camberwell study (1979) was one of the first population-level studies of autism prevalence, finding rates far higher than previously thought. This work was foundational to the recognition that autism is common, not rare.
Critical assessment
Wing’s triad defined autism for three decades but was revised. The DSM-5 collapsed it into a dyad and added sensory reactivity for the first time. Her framework didn’t include sensory processing as a core feature—a significant omission that took decades to correct.
“Asperger syndrome” as a separate diagnosis created a two-tier system—“high-functioning” versus “low-functioning” people with different levels of support. The DSM-5 and ICD-11 retired the diagnosis partly to address this, but the legacy persists. See Hans Asperger for ethical complications.
Wing herself was aware of these tensions and was characteristically pragmatic about them. She did not fetishise diagnostic categories; she used them as tools for getting people the support they needed.
Selected works
- 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(1), 11–29. — The Camberwell study; the spectrum concept.
- Wing, L. (1981). “Asperger’s syndrome: a clinical account.” Psychological Medicine, 11(1), 115–129. — The paper that introduced Asperger’s to the English-speaking world.
- Wing, L. (1996). The Autistic Spectrum: A Guide for Parents and Professionals. London: Constable. — The accessible overview.
Last reviewed
2026-04-15