Karaoke Night with Daily Cal Weekender Team
What Parents have to Say
What Parents have to Say
As part of the Autism Awareness week, "Spectrum: Autism at Cal" student org, conducted short interviews with parents of autistics to learn of their experiences.
Here is the first video in this series with Jill Escher, who highlights issues in adulthood, financial security and public benefits. Jill is not just the parent of two non-speaking autistics but also the president of the SF Autism Society, leading efforts to get autism justice.
And a personal friend too. Thank you Jill for the interview
Here is the second interview in our series with Nate Tilton, a fellow Calbear and the parent of a son with autism. Nate is a veteran and Lab Manager at the Berkeley Disability Lab where I have the opportunity to be an RA this sem. One of the community rules in the Lab is "Stimming is Ok" - isn't that amazing!!
As part of the Autism Awareness week, "Spectrum: Autism at Cal" conducted short interviews with parents of autistics to learn of their experiences.
Here is the final interview in our series with Jerry and Kim Hasserjian, parents of fellow Calbear Cole who is a business major. Cole is doing great work in leading the organization and outreach of the Spectrum student org as its current president.
Turkey Run
Turkeys got the memo.
Thankgiving = Turkey Genocide
On the run to the hills away from human predators.
Turkeys Got the Memo: Run for the Hills
Thanksgiving's around, time to pack up
Run to the hills, escape human predators
Avoid turkey genocide, they're go-getters
Turkey Run
Mental Health and Autism @Synchrony
I got to present on the urgent need for Mental Health Standards of Care for Autism at the Synchrony 2019 Conference
Splash@UC Berkeley
Got to teach at a group of High Schoolers for Splash at Berkeley today. Such an amazing experience.
Splash is an academic outreach program that was originally started at MIT. Splash classes are run by Berkeley students on a variety of topics and last anywhere from 1-3 hours. High schoolers are can sign up to attend as many as they want.
But before you can teach Splash, got to attend a teacher training workshop on 10/19
Diwali w Veena
Celebrating Diwali with my Veena Athai and Tilak Atimber
Except she does not want to be called Athai
She's too young she says.
Not the generation of my Dad!!
Except she does not want to be called Athai
She's too young she says.
Not the generation of my Dad!!
Limits to No Limits
I spent almost two months working on this article with documentation help from the Disabled Student Advocates on Campus and interviewing users of the program and faculty.
No Limits was the name of individualized personal training offered to disabled students by the Rec Center at UC Berkeley.
To summarize:
Old No Limits Program = Free + Unlimited number of sessions of personal training
Replacement Program being offered = Subsidized + limit of 16 sessions per academic year.
The history and politics of it all.
Shutdown of Recreational Sports Facility’s No Limits program leaves disabled students with ‘new limits’
The Refrigerator Mom
The "refrigerator mom" theory in autism was coined by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner in the 1940s and was further popularized by psychologist Bruno Bettelheim in the 1950s and 1960s. Kanner originally suggested that autism was related to a lack of warmth and affection from the mother, describing the mothers of autistic children as emotionally distant or "refrigerator-like." Bettelheim took this idea further, suggesting that cold, detached parenting—especially from the mother—was a primary cause of autism, and he compared autism to a form of emotional trauma inflicted on children by these supposedly unloving parents.
The Logic Behind the Theory
The theory was based on early psychological models, which attributed many childhood developmental disorders to environmental influences, particularly parenting styles. Kanner and Bettelheim observed that autistic children often came from seemingly well-educated, middle- or upper-class families, leading them to believe that these children were being neglected emotionally in favor of intellectual or professional pursuits by their parents. Bettelheim's theory drew from psychoanalytic traditions, where he believed that this emotional withdrawal by the mother stunted the child's emotional and social development.
The Negatives of the Theory
- Blame and Stigma: The refrigerator mom theory placed a tremendous burden on mothers, blaming them for their child's autism. It led to guilt, shame, and stigma for families who were already struggling to understand the condition and find appropriate care for their children.
- Harmful Emotional Consequences: This theory alienated parents from professionals and support systems, as many mothers were unjustly blamed and ostracized. It also delayed effective interventions, as the focus was on "fixing" the parent-child relationship rather than addressing the neurological nature of autism.
- Scientific Inaccuracy: The theory has been debunked, with current research showing that autism is primarily a neurodevelopmental condition with genetic and biological underpinnings, rather than caused by emotional deprivation or parental behavior.
- Delayed Acceptance of Autism: The theory contributed to a misguided understanding of autism for decades, delaying the development of more effective interventions and delaying the broader recognition of autism as a complex condition, rather than one rooted in blame.
Any Positives?
"Positives," if we can call it that, is that the refrigerator mom theory spurred early interest in autism research and public attention to the condition. Although the theory itself was deeply flawed, it led to more focus on autism as a subject of study and perhaps prompted others to challenge it in favor of more compassionate, supportive, and scientific approaches in autism care.
PlainSpeak. In Plain Language for the Lay Audience
The "refrigerator mom" theory was an old idea from the 1940s and 1950s that wrongly blamed cold, distant parenting—especially from mothers—for causing autism. It was suggested by Leo Kanner and popularized by Bruno Bettelheim, who believed that mothers who didn’t show enough warmth and affection were the reason children developed autism.
This theory was harmful because it unfairly blamed parents, especially mothers, and caused emotional pain, stigma, and delays in understanding autism properly. We now know autism is a neurodevelopmental condition with biological and genetic causes, not something caused by parenting.
The only small positive was that the theory brought early attention to autism, but it also took decades to correct this damaging misunderstanding.
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