Bruno Bettelheim Attacks: REFRIGERATOR MOTHERS and AUTISM

[Mmmousemaid]

I'm not surprised, but i added him in association with two uploads: Autism and fairy tales. I think of him as in the same cultural anthropology/sociology categories as Thomas Szasz.

[SovereignBeing]

refrigerator mothers = reptilian

[privatepile762]

@SovereignBeing For an excellent narrative on the topic (and to address your question "how do you know"), please see Chapter 2 of the excellent book AUTISM AND REPRESENTATION, edited by Mark Osteen. The chapter is titled "Bruno Bettleheim, Autism, and the Rhetoric of Scientific Authority". It is an excellent explanation of Bettleheim's rise to notoriety in the U.S. & an excellent example of how a fraud (he had NO CREDENTIALS) can capture the attention fo mainstream society using sensationalism.

[Thosewerethe]

Bettleheim was ahead of his time. Don't be so judgemental! He was right about the Refridgerator parent but it is not always the mother. Aspie parents are often incapable of being responsive to their babies needs. They can't anticipate emotional needs and they can't take the perspective of their own baby. Cold describes them, Aspies are more likely to have little Aspies as offspring. There is an undeniable gentic component. So Aspie children are likely to have Aspie parents (one or both).

[privatepile762]

@Thosewerethe Asking critics of Bettleheim to not "be so judgmental" is a bizarre request given that Bettelheim regularly judged people (and abused children). Also, your implication that parents cause their children's autism is antiquated, absurd, and outlandish. To suggest that the genetic link is equivalent to parental cause is akin to suggesting that parents also cause their children's cancer. "Cold" parenting has nothing to do with autism. Perhaps you ought to take a course in logic & reason

[redtaker333]

Lo que se dice aqui es mentira. Bruno Bettelheim fué un gran hombre, y su aporte a la psicoterapia es benéfico. Lo que pasa es que hay personas resentidas y que manipulan la verdad, como Pollack. Bettelheim se refirió a "congelar" la relación, no a madres que congelaban a sus niños.

[redtaker333]

Lo que se dice aqui es mentira. Bruno bettelheim fué un gran hombre, y su aporte a la psicoterapia es benéfico. Lo que pasa es que hay personas resentidas y que manipulan la verdad, como Pollack, a quien Bettelheim acusó de enfermar a su propio hermano. Bettelheim se refirió a "congelar"  la relación, no a madres que congelaban a sus niños.

[Mmmousemaid]

Bruno Bettleheim indicated the importance of fantasy and wish fulfillment through imagination in young children and emotive development. Bruno Bettleheim indicated the importance of fantasy and wish fulfillment through imagination in young children and emotive developmment.

[privatepile762]

@Mmmousemaid Bettleheim did not have a doctoral degree of any kind, was not a psychologist, and purposely popularized himself by using mainstream literature outlets (e.g. "ladies home journal" with sensational writings that were largely ignored by the scientific community. Bettleheim, in all respects, was a complete fraud and none of his work is recognized by modern scholars as having any relevance to psychology, psychiatry, or education.

[wiredgeese]

I was saddened to hear all these controversies surrounding the man as I had become fascinated with the whole story of underlying messages in fairytales that he had written about - i.e. 3 little pigs = if a job is worth doing..., I was surprised to hear he had taken his own life. Not sure what to think- one thing is for sure – children autistic of not are a blessing on this earth!

[Methyl10]

Bettelheim has tarnished the Psychoanalysis, Freud, Anna Freud and all the people are really trying to work with autistic children. The man was a liar, a narcissist, a choleric and a neurotic!

Most recently he was a scientific fraud, he has many many people very disappointed. If you want to know more about him , read Nina Suttons Biography about him .

[privatepile762]

Pathological LIAR. This guy fabricated data, claimed to have cured children, and shamed parents, all for his celebrity reputation. What a joke.

[SovereignBeing]

@privatepile762 how do u know?

[redtaker33]

Bettelheim was a magnific terapeut. Good man and good doctor. He help many childrens.

[Methyl10]

@redtaker33 says who ?? I read all his Books and as a young father he inspired me in a lot of things . But know it seems me he was a liar , he constructed his own data , he never ever studies Psychology ! And he never made an Psychoanalysis himself !!! As I read his Nina Suttons Biography of him , it gaves me a real Depression !

[PallMallDude]

At 1:18 the mother says "One day, I lost it, I called you up and I said: If you don't come home I'm going to kill him." This is not the words of a refrigerator mother. Freezer mother seems more accurate.

[ScarletPirate1]

@PallMallDude How can you possibly understand how frustrated a person can get when the one they love cannot function on their own and cannot even communicate their feelings? I am truly appalled at how so many people cannot even attempt to understand how hard it is raise an autistic child. I hope that you never have to deal with that situation, because you would seemingly never survive that kind of ordeal.

[mitziwaltz]

He wasn't "outed as a paedophile" but was revealed to have hit and verbally abused children at the Orthogenic School, and to have lied about "curing" children with autism (and his own education and background). There are adults who had a good experience at the school but they were kids with emotional problems, not autism. Only a few children with autism ever attended the school but Bettelheim taked as though all of them were.

Did huge damage to many children and families through his writing.

[XxPepperMintxX]

PARENTS = NAZIS??? come on...PUHLEEZE

thats the worst analogy ever in the history of analogies

[Schattensprinter]

i know these arguemts, and some of these are right i think, but on the otherhand is he right, that children needs fairytails, this book is not bad, read it, or not.

[LizRobillard]

He was outed as a peadophile + killed himself. He abused a guys brother who wrote a book and exposed him. He lied about his qualifications and everything else. If you want the real truth about autism, check out the behaviours of all known chromosomal disorders in children, and 'white matter' as 'Rain Man' suffered. 'Autism' is an umbrella term for a myriad of illness, that's the truth. Much of it can be seen in the brain via fMri (scan) + pathological liar and proven plageurist (Howlin 2?)

[Schattensprinter]

was he really peadophile? i know that this argument is a lie, what he does was, he hit the children, and thats bad. never hit a child, and he murderd hisself. by myself, i dont know so much about him, i red just 2 books of him.

[gusgrissomismyhero]

people like me NEVER lived in dachau!

[halfpintprincess76]

I guess from being in one of those camps he forgot how to care since all he did was spout hate about mothers he didn't even know. Although there is still more work to be done in finding ways to improve the lives of people with autism, we sure have come a long way from that weird man.

[bopplayer]

Bettelheim was still from the era of Freud. Pure guess work.

[shiahian]

WOW! This guy is totally insane. I can't even imagine living in that era where they would blame a mother for her childs disability. I think I would have killed myself.

[RemisFrosty]

Everyone should know this story

[Lost4ever007]

Bruno Bettelheim, es un hijo de puta bien grande.