Who’s to blame for autism?

Michael Savage has received far too much press for his despicable statement about autism.

In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. That’s what autism is.

This pronouncement of his caused a big stir and was then (unfortunately) repeated by those who wish to provide commentary. I am loathe to write about his comments as I think many individuals in the media make radical statements just to garner additional press. I am hesitant to reinforce him by providing yet another forum to repeat his words.

But here’s the thing. His despicable comment just shows us once again how some need to engage in blame in re: disability. Must it be somebody’s “fault” that a child has a disability? To me this is the crux of Savage’s comment — he continues the mythology that there must be a person or action to blame for the manifestation of the behaviors related to autism.

Parents of children with autism have had to absorb this blame once too often. In the 1940’s Bruno Bettelheim coined the term Refrigerator Mothers, implying that poor parenting resulted in autism. Years passed before this ridiculous theory was disproven. And all that time, parents had to endure the incredible hardship of blame in addition to the challenges associated with supporting a child with autism.

Over 20 years ago, I heard Norm Kunc, a disability rights advocate, state that, “disability is the nature of the human condition.” I’ve never forgotten his words. Parents should not be blamed for autism. Autism is a component of the human condition.


 

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  1. Jacqueline Says:

    I think the Refrigerator Mother theory works in reverse. When she has a child that does not respond to, or even recoils from affectionate behavior, a mother learns not to behave affectionately toward that child.