It is not very helpful, if or when outdated, discredited, or Dinosaur ideas and notions, or theories that have no foundation are repeated, particularly if these theories are expressed and are aired at conferences where present are parents whose children have been diagnosed or people who may have just been diagnosed or individuals whose family members who are newly diagnosed. I will examine some theories which are outdated and discredited below.....
It was formerly believed that Autism was caused by 'Refrigerator Parents', particularly middle and upper class ones, who were too wrapped up in their careers or themselves and as a result, were indifferent to their children's needs and showed them no love or affection whilst growing up. In turn, it is believed that this caused their children to be cold, unresponsive and indifferent.
This theory was mainly originated from Bruno Bettleheim, who was born on Friday 28th August 1903. Bettleheim was an Austrian psychoanalyst who worked with Autistic children, at a time when Autism was treated as a mental illness. Autistic children were "normal" in appearance and some of them had Savant abilities,. Both factors made people believe they were very intelligent.
Bettelheim believed that the biological abnormalities in autistic children were the results rather than the causes of the condition. Bettleheim opined that the lack of early emotional stimulation could damage the central nervous system of children, affecting both ego development and intellectual capabilities. Even Leo Kanner, who had correctly stated in 1943 that Autism was an inborn, developmental disability affecting social and emotional understanding, changed his original view, and he wrote in 1954 that he believed that a person's upbringing caused Autism. However, some years later, Kanner changed his view again to state that it wasn't. He did not arrogantly and dogmatically stick to an opinion when it had been totally discredited and disproved, unlike Bettleheim.
Freudian psychology held a dominant position in Psychology in the western world during the 1950's and early 1960's, thus, Bettelheim's dogmatic assertions were taken to be gospel. They were not seriously disputed or challenged in any capacity until 1964, when Dr Bernard Rimland, an internationally recognised authority on the subject of Autism and the father of an Autistic boy, Mark, who was born in March 1956, published a book called "Infantile Autism". This publication described the clinical features of the condition in full detail and provided the first evidence that Autism is a biological condition and that it wasn't caused by parental attitudes.
In 1967, when Mark was 11, Rimland founded the Autism Research Institute. Their central theme was that Autism is treatable.
From the early 1970's onwards, Bettleheim's ideas were rejected, even though the author continued to assert they were accurate. Bettleheim committed suicide on Tuesday, 13th March 1990 at the age of 86. After his death it was found that he had lied about his background and plagiarised many of his ideas from others sources and individuals.
Despite him and his theories becoming discredited, Bettleheim's work caused severe damage. I have read about other kids of parents who have had one Autistic child being taken away from them in the past because of this idea. This was because the authorities didn't want the unaffected children to develop in this way. The authorities thought that they would have if they had remained living with their parents.
There have been some very indulgent and affectionate parents who have brought up Autistic children. They have not showed the slightest traces of either negative method of child rearing. I have heard of autistic children in the past being took off their parents and being placed into care due to this idea, as well as the parents of these children being banned from looking after their offspring.
In the distant past, it was widely believed that both Asperger's Syndrome and Kanner's type of Autism only could occur in white, middle and upper class, academic and professional families. The children who Kanner saw were all from such backgrounds. The reason for this is that middle and upper class parents were likely to have been better educated, more knowledgeable, articulate, assertive, and more pushy. Therefore, they will have taken their child to see a specialist early in life. This probably led to the theory that AS and Autism can only happen in middle and upper class families. They would have been more likely to look for a cause for their child's behaviour than many working-class and poor parents, who would have been more likely to attribute it to bad or disruptive behaviour, and therefore, sanctions and discipline were needed to cure or reduce the problem.
Whatever different social classes might have or might not have believed, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are no respecters of persons, wealth, social class, colour, ethnic origin or religion. No matter what or who you are, your child can have these conditions, and that's what should be established in society. Autism knows no boundaries. It affects, as John Sullivan sang on the "Only Fools and Horses" theme tune, "Black or white, rich or poor". Duke or dustman. Billionaire or pauper, Autism and AS are no respector of persons.
In 1988 Autism was portrayed in film for the very first time. Yet many people still say today when you mention Autism, "Rainman", yet no-one ever says "Winston Churchill", "Luciano Pavarotti" or "Buddha" when you talk about someone who is fat, or "David Blunkett", "Stevie Wonder" or "Helen Keller" when you mention blindness, or "Beethoven", when you mention deafness.
The vast majority of individuals with Autism or AS don't possess savant skills, even though they can develop special interests and excel in these areas. Rainman served its purpose in bringing Autism to public awareness in 1988, but that was 1988. As it turns out now, years and years later, the real-life person that "Rain Man" is based on isn't even autistic!
On Saturday, 20th October 2007, I watched the film "Snowcake", starring Sigourney Weaver. Interestingly, Alan Rickman chose not to research Autism whilst making the film according to Wikipedia. I found it to be better than Rainman was with regards to representing Autism or probably AS. The woman in it, the central character, did definitely illustrate a lot of AS tendencies, but also the film seemed to again represent OCD as well as Autism.
I think the character had High-Functioning Autism rather than AS but I would still recommend the film to anyone as being worthy of watching, whether they are interested in Autism or not. I wondered if Vivienne, the daughter, had AS herself, because of the communication and interaction problems she displayed and because of the way she started striking up a conversation with a total stranger who she had never met before, and who could have been anyone, and how she just barged up to him, but there was not only that, the one-sided conversation.
Another fallacy. Those with AS and Autism do feel empathy, it is just that they probably show and demonstrate it differently to how NT's show it. Also, their difficulty in reading body language and tendency to talk about solely what interests them repetitively can make them appear to not realise that they are boring the individual or individuals listening to them. As a result, this can make them appear to be egocentric and self-centred.
I, and dare I say, many Autistics and Aspies have had life experiences that many NT's haven't had, just as many NT's have had life experiences that many Autistics and Aspies haven't had, and therefore can't identity with. If you can't project your feelings onto other people, which to me is what empathy is, then you will be accused of lacking it, and that is another reason why they are accused of not having empathy. They miss the social cues, which creates that impression.
I can feel empathy, particularly for what experiences I have been through myself. I know what it is like to be isolated and misunderstood by people. I have suffered from the latter aspect consistently throughout my life. If people have communication disabilities or conditions which make them be misunderstood, they have my full empathy. I know what it feels like to pass an exam. I know it feels to be mentally overloaded or overwhelmed when too many people are around me at once.
I know what it feels like to have the satisfaction of someone singing a guestbook of a website. I know what it feels like when a family member or when your pet dog dies. I dare I say many other people with AS have behaved in empathic ways during their lives, so, yes, people with AS can feel empathy. Some can't, but also, some of the least empathetic and most self-centred people I have ever met have been NT's. Some of them have been so far up their own arses, they would make a circle, but I dare say some people fitting that description will have AS. You meet shithouses from all walks of life, in all social classes, and all regions and nations.
