The 1950s concept of ‘refrigerator mothers’ and autism

"'Attachment Disorder' is the new Refrigerator Mother."

Amen.

In the USA, APSAC and the APA's Div. on Child Maltreatment have denounced use of the bogus, catch-all "Attachment Disorder" (AD) diagnosis. AD (not to be confused with Reactive Attachment Disorder) is only recognized by a fringe group of therapists using "Attachment (Holding) Therapy" (AT). These unvalidated and inappropriate "in-arms" practices, along with AT's highly controlling parenting methods, are finally gaining recognition as being abusive and inappropriate for all children. Unfortunately, AT is still popular and even receives government funding in some areas. An unvalidated spin off of AT is Love and Logic, a program promoted to parents and teachers.

Wonder how far down the road we will get before todays approach to Autism will be considered primative?
Just a thought...
Keith

"Autism is genetic in origin"

I would be willing to bet that this is going to be the 'refrigerator mother' equivalent for modern times. To date there has been no "autism gene" found that, like eye color, controls whether the person develops autism. The extensive genetic mapping has yet to turn up any genetic condition that appears in more than than a minuscule portion of the autism population ( less than 1% is the norm).

If you look at the results of twin studies you will see that while identical twins are likely to both have autism (the accepted figure seems to be 70% - 90%) that figure isn't 100%. If it isn't 100% (or closer to it than 90%) then there is by definition something else going on. Furthermore even when both twins have autism the specific symptoms and severity of the issues vary between the twins - which is not expected in identical twins when the controlling factor is genetic.

I was suspected of being a "refrigerater mother" in the mid 70's when my son was first diagnosed with Autism. The only problem was that I have the personality of a warm, outgoing extrovert. I nursed my son for a year. This was considered unusual at the time. I also seemed overprotective of my son. They decided his condition had to be my fault. They decided we had something called "Symbiotic Psychosis". The experts didn't have to deal with me in the same way if they could blame me for my child's condition. The school district was particularly difficult to deal with. As time went by the attitudes changed, but I still want to cry when I think how the experts made this hard time in my life more difficult. Today my son is doing well. He lives in his own apartment with the help of a MHMR habilitator. He rides to the sheltered workshop by himself on the bus everyday. He spends each Sunday with us. We survived those early years when everyone thought Autism was caused by the mother.

Bruno Bettleheim was able to "get away" with his totally "off the wall" assessment of what causes autism because the true cause of a great deal of non-familial autism is not pleasing to hear. It is the father's older age at the time of conception that causes much non-familial autism and other genetic disorders. Also if the mother had an older father at her conception she may carry defective DNA.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23849196-5000117,00.html

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-men-have-biological-clocks

It was stated above:

"Often errors help to frame modern thinking. However, can we truly accept Bettelheim’s work as a core part of developmental theories about autism?"

While historically significant, the "refrigerator mother" assertion is irrelevant in this day and age in light of the fact that 137 scientists in over 50 countries worldwide mapped most of the autism genome after studying over 1,600 families who had autistic family members. Autism is genetic in origin, and this has been confirmed by peer review.

To date, there is no known "trigger" for autism. It is, like eye color, present at birth, though its effects may not begin to present themselves in recognizable ways until a child reaches 18 months to three years of age.

The history orf the study or any diagnosis or disorder is full of speculations and false conclusions. What needs to be done is view Kanner and Bettelheim's studies in light of what we know now, excising anything that is irrelevant, and keeping anything that is pertanent. Certainly some of what they have discovered has value.

Information on the causes of autism can be dowloaded free from www.mic.mypodcast.com. Educators and parents in particular may benefit from these audio podcasts issued by Midnight In Chicago.

There was a time in history, back when the earth was flat, when mental illness was caused by evil spirits and autism was caused by mercury (although there are still a few folks trying to make a buck from mercury). Genetic research is beginning to make meaningful progress into unraveling brain development. One day in the not-so-distant future, all these environmental explanations for genetic programming will look like ancient superstition, much like the work of Bettelheim.

"Attachment Disorder" is the new Refrigerator Mother.