Sep
27
Refrigerator Mother Defined
Category: General | 
A refrigerator mother was a term used by the medical profession to describe autistic children’s’ mothers as back in the 50’s, mothers were routinely blamed for their children’s’ behavior habits, including self-isolation, speech difficulties and rigid type rituals. It was used as an assumptive label, but in the 70’s many mothers of autistic children rose up to stop the blaming situation, though even today some mental health workers still adhere to the old ideals, blaming mothers as being emotionally frigid themselves. This was due in part to the belief by the medical community that autism was caused by poor parenting and sadly it is still an assumption made today.
