Wednesday, May 19, 2010

When Medical Science Speaks Without Enough Evidence

The term refrigerator mother  may not be familiar to you.  It wasn't to me, but then I've had very little exposure to Autism.  From Wikipedia I found this explanation.  It's scary the power a "learned medical professional" has over the well being of us working stiffs that do all the work and keep the puppy mill churning out new drones.


The term refrigerator mother was coined around 1950 as a label for mothers of children diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia. These mothers were often blamed for their children's atypical behavior, which included rigid rituals, speech difficulty, and self-isolation.


The "refrigerator mother" label was based on the assumption — now discredited among most, though not all, mental health professionals — that autistic behaviors stem from the emotional frigidity of the children's mothers. As a result, many mothers of children on the autistic spectrum suffered from blame, guilt, and self-doubt from the 1950s throughout the 1970s and beyond: when the prevailing medical belief that autism resulted from inadequate parenting was widely assumed to be correct. Present-day proponents of the psychogenic theory of autism continue to maintain that the condition is a result of poor parenting.

Think about this when your State starts discussing the legitimization of Clinical Marijuana.  Do the medical professionals know yea or nay?  Can they if the federal government makes it illegal to explore such research?

This posting may seem kind of unorganized, but such is the mind of a 40 mile commuter who listens to NPR.

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