The =93Refrigerator Mother=94 Hypothesis of = Autism

The "Refrigerator Mother" Hypothesis of Autism

James R. Laidler, MD

Although it is hard to find the specific instance when the = =93refrigerator=20 mother=94 hypothesis of autism was first used, it is not difficult to = find who=20 first proposed it. As early as his 1943 paper, Leo Kanner was calling = attention=20 to what he saw as a lack of parental warmth and attachment to their = autistic=20 children. In his 1949 paper, he attributed autism to a =93genuine lack = of maternal=20 warmth=94 and the =93Refrigerator Mother=94 theory of autism was born. =

In retrospect, it would appear that Kanner was confusing cause and = effect. It=20 is more likely that any lack of attachment he saw between the parents = and their=20 autistic children was due to the lack of social reciprocity in the = children. He=20 consistently ignored the fact that the affected children in his 1943 = paper had=20 unaffected siblings who were, presumably, exposed to the same parents = and their=20 warmth or lack of it. In a 1960 Time Magazine interview, Kanner = described the=20 mothers of autistic children as =93just happening to defrost enough to = produce a=20 child.=94

As instrumental as Kanner was in forming the =93Refrigerator = Mother=94=20 hypothesis, it was Bruno Bettleheim who gave it widespread popularity. = His=20 articles, primarily in the 1950s and 1960s, popularized the idea that = autism was=20 caused by maternal coldness toward their children=97ignoring, as Kanner = did, that=20 these same mothers had other children who were not autistic. This was, = without a=20 doubt, the low ebb of professional opinion about the parents (especially = the=20 mothers) of autistic children.

Despite a number of articles and books published during the 1950=92s = and 1960=92s=20 that blamed autism an a maternal lack of affection, there was a growing = sense in=20 the medical community that this did not explain autism as it was seen in = the=20 community. In 1964, Bernard Rimland, a psychologist with an autistic = son,=20 produced the book Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and its = Implications for a=20 Neural Theory of Behavior, which attacked the =93Refrigerator = Mother=94=20 hypothesis directly.

In what appears to be a direct response to Rimland=92s book, = Bettleheim wrote=20 The Empty Fortress: Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self, = in=20 which he compared the autistic child to a prisoner in a concentration = camp=20 (casting the parents as the SS guards). He states:

The difference between the plight of prisoners in a concentration = camp and=20 the conditions which lead to autism and schizophrenia in children is, = of=20 course, that the child has never had a previous chance to develop much = of a=20 personality.

As it later turned out, Bettleheim=92s book was one of the last gasps = of the=20 =93refrigerator mother =93 hypothesis. Although many other authors = subsequently=20 argued that is was valid to blame parents (especially the mother) for = autism, it=20 was a doomed cause. Although a few people, and even a few medical = professionals,=20 still blame autism on maternal lack of affection, the growing volume of = data=20 supporting a biological cause clearly refutes this. However, other = potentially=20 dangerous "blame-the-parent" notions have arisen. According to these, = parents=20 are responsible for their children=92s autism in two ways:

Causing the autism (through ignorance or willfully disregarding = warnings)=20 by allowing their child to receive routine vaccinations with products = that=20 contain thimerosal=20 (a mercury-containing preservative) preservative or a combination = measles,=20 mumps, and rubella vaccines.=20
Allowing the autism to persist by not administering all of the = therapies=20 recommended by a burgeoning number of =93experts=94 and healers. This = is evidenced=20 by repeated references to =93the window of opportunity=94 in treating = autism.=20

Many of the leaders in the autism recovery movement are very = active in=20 opposing any hypothesis (or, in fact, any research) of the genetic = component of=20 autism, fearing that it will undermine their assertion that all cases = are caused=20 by external, controllable (and, therefore, preventable or treatable) = factors.=20 Although it is probably not their intention, this has the effect of = blaming the=20 parents for their children=92s autism.=20

This article was revised on September 15, 2004. =

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