CAUSES

The “Refrigerator Mother” Hypothesis of Autism

Although it is hard to find the specific instance when the “refrigerator mother” hypothesis of autism was first used, it is not difficult to find who first proposed it. As early as his 1943 paper, Leo Kanner was calling attention to what he saw as a lack of parental warmth and attachment to their autistic children. In his 1949 paper, he attributed autism to a “genuine lack of maternal warmth” and the “Refrigerator Mother” theory of autism was born. In retrospect, it would appear that Kanner was confusing cause and effect. It is more likely that any lack of attachment he saw between the parents and their autistic children was due to the lack of social reciprocity in the children. He consistently ignored the fact …