In Jane Austen’s day it was the horror of novels!! Nothing warps the mind of a young lady more easily…
Yes, that theory was totally discredited at least 30-40 years ago.
It’s certainly true that parents on the spectrum are more likely to have children on the spectrum, but that’s another issue entirely.
And Jane Austen was sent away at a few months old to be cared for by a local woman for a year or 18 months, as were all her siblings… She apparently blamed this for never really feeling very emotionally attached to her parents, but you’d have a tough time convincing me she had autism.
And 200 years later it was blimps. 
The idea that autism can be caused (or contributed to) by bad parenting is downright prehistoric. You might as well be talking about an imbalance of bodily humors.
I don't think bad parenting is the word here. I also don't think looking at it and many other tings should be considered prehistoric. How we bond with our parents can affect a lot of things in our personalities, autism has been ruled out I guess but certainly nothing wrong with looking at it. A lot of things can interrupt the bonding process that doesn't include being a bad parent.
For you edification
http://projectautism.org/history-of-autism
The idea of “refrigerator parents” was discredited decades ago
the real issue with the apparent rise in autism is misdiagnosis of multiple underlying conditions that are never addressed in reaching the conclusion that a person, especially a child, is autistic
I was taught that the first step in diagnosing a mental issue is eliminating or treating underlying medical conditions as a cause for the observed behavior.
Mom being glued to the cell phone doesn’t suggest perfect parenting skills by any means but your speculation is, well… this is IMHO so I won’t say much beyond that it reflects a theory that was proposed (and later discounted) by Leo Kanner, but popularized by the quack Bruno Bettelheim.
I once watched a PBS show featuring a family where the daughter was autistic and other kids were not. The mother quite pragmatically pointed out that if “refrigerator mother” was at play, her other kids should have been autistic as well.
Might a neglected kid have behavioral issues caused by lack of parental involvement? Of course. Might some of those kids also have autism? Naturally - but it isn’t caused by the parent.
I will concede that a parent not being deeply involved could worsen the outcome in the case of a kid with autism: we have spent untold amounts of time, energy and money dealing with our son’s autism and daughter’s mental health issues - and frankly a lot of parents will try to pooh-pooh and ignore the problems, with predictable results.
My friend has twins where one is severely autistic (non-verbal) and the other is neurotypical. The dad happens to be older, too…hmm.
Anyway both of the kids are loved and doted on. Little dude’s problems did not stem from lack of interaction nor vaccines.
True dat! But it’s simplistic in the extreme to even pretend that the parental bond is responsible for non verbal children on the spectrum.
The only thing that has been shown to be effective is ABA (applied behavioral therapy), and earlier the better. It’s really expensive and not easy to both get the early diagnosis and the ABA therapy. Yes, parents including myself share blame for not having the skills to recognize my younger twin was on the autism spectrum rather than a “slow developer” nor having the ABA skills for early intervention. And I had about the best corporate insurance available and relocated my entire family to the US for the better care available here when my youngest was 5.5 years old.
It ain’t a lack of “parental bond” even though that seems to make “common sense.”
Well Autism is a spectrum and I think all the things lumped into that category don’t have the same genesis. I’ve read it is suspected as many as 25% of cases are caused by maternal auto antibodies called Gamma Immunoglobulins or igG crosses the placenta and “attacks” or disrupts the development of the fetal brain.
Women with Autoimmune disorders have statistically higher rates of children with Autism and some other disorders like Tourette’s. This has been tested in laboratories where they injected pregnant rhesus monkeys with the same thing and their offspring seemed to exhibit a sort of monkey form of autistic behavior.
Which I think takes us back to the hygiene hypothesis, which suggests an increase in rates of not only Autism but autoimmune disorders, allergies, asthma, inflammatory skin disorders, etc.
I’d wager the cause of some cases also has to do with environmental toxins and manmade synthetic chemicals and pollution in the environment.
Here is some stuff about the studies they’ve done:
Me, too. My mother says I pushed her away when she tried to cuddle me as a baby. I till don’t like physical contact. And obsessive/excessive should be my middle name. Good thing I am not compulsive. I’d be dead or in jail.
Do you really suppose that researchers are so incredibly stupid that the figures don’t account for that, that they use absolute numbers rather than percentage of kids diagnosed?
I don’t think parental detachment causes autism, but it seems like it could exacerbate the symptoms. If the parents have an easy distraction, they may be less likely to interact with their child. The more time they spend engrossed in their phone means less time talking and playing with their child, which are forms of verbal and physical therapy. So then the child could be less verbal and interact less with other other people.
That is absolutely not true.
This is one of the earlier assumptions about autism, that it was caused by “refrigerator mothers”.
Autism is likely genetic.
The more I participate in autism related groups the more I’m seeing parents, especially mothers, getting diagnosed later in life like myself. When I think about my mom I see she was likely autistic as well. I get irked when people say “everyone is somewhere on the spectrum” because no, they aren’t. It’s one thing to see a list of symptoms and say that one or two of those sound like you, but that’s not placing somewhere on the autism spectrum.
I’m sure it’s hard for ALL children when their parents don’t pay them proper attention. It doesn’t make them “more autistic” though.
I suspect you are right, I am pretty sure I would fall somewhere on the spectrum and my mother was very much like me in a lot of my quirks. I went through a divorce about 30 years ago that I am pretty sure left me much lower on the spectrum than I was before the divorce. Most people today see me as quirky but otherwise normal.
If divorce left you lower on the spectrum, that’s an environmental factor. And probably not permanent. And to my arm chair psychiatry that is probably more depression than anything.
*Father of an autistic child going through divorce after 24 years. YMMV
Bumped.
Here’s a California company that goes out of its way to be welcoming to autistic employees: An Office Designed for Workers With Autism - The New York Times
Good article. I read that. My youngest on the spectrum is 14. I don’t know if she will ever be independent or even semi-dependent. She continues to make progress and I have hope.
I read articles like that and constantly think about what kind of business could I start that could employ not only my daughter, but many more spectrum folks? I’d prefer it to be a sustainable business model that could be blue printed or “franchised” out. I’d settle for a Microsoft, Google or Amazon subsidizing some kind of outsourced work. It’s something I constantly mull over.