Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D.

Dr. Rimland deserves a place of honor in the hearts of all people as everybody either has and/or is involved with somebody who has autism. Dr. Rimland, a pioneer in autism research has done an invaluable service by rightfully refuting the "refrigerator mother" fallacy. Dr. Leo Kanner and the notorious fraud "Brutal" Bettelheim harped on this fallacy and made parent bashing common. That hurt all and helped none. Common sense dictates that NOBODY would make their child autistic! And why were mothers blamed? People have fathers, so as to follow this illogical train of thought, if you want to tax somebody's parents for causing their autism, then trot out "the deep-freeze dad" syndrome to accompany the equally ludicrous "regrigerator mother" fallacy. Dr. Rimlaund takes that crock of bull and uses it as fertilizer; by challenging it, he harvests a rich crop of plausible explanations for autism which is a neurobiological condition. It was Dr. Rimland who recognized the physiological and neurobiological factors in autism. Misdiagnosis was not uncommon; many people with autism have been mislabeled as autistic behavior yielded false positives that led so-called experts to brand them erroneously with psychosis. Dr. Rimland coined the term "pseudo-wastebasket term" for any label that was used as a catch-all for behavior that did not fit any conventional pattern or existing label. Dr. Rimland was indeed a pioneer and I think we should raise our glasses to this man for helping lead many minds out of the Dark Ages where misperceptions and blame in re autism flourished. It is thanks to his efforts in looking at genetic as well as environmental factors that people such as David Kirby, Dr. Tony Attwood, Dr. Travis Thompson and many others have used in their research. Although Dr. Rimland died in 2006, his work will be cheered on and greatly appreciated by countless people.

Bernard Rimland's groundbreaking book (published in 1964) debunked the shameful theory that autism was caused by "refrigerator mothers", a theory propounded by the since discredited Bruno Bettelheim and widely adopted up to that time by mainstream psychology. Dr. Rimland was the first to make the case that autism was linked to physiological factors including genetics, a theory later adopted by by mainstream medical researchers. This book is a landmark in the history of the disorder known as autism. Of interest is the statement contained in the introduction to Dr. Rimland's book by Dr. Leo Kanner, the psychiatrist who 60 years ago first described the disorder and coined the term "autism". Dr. Kanner derides the label "autism" as a "pseudo-diagnostic wastebasket" for disorders that are not understood. The disorder called "autism" is still not understood. Dr. Rimland, more than others, has progressed beyond his own work in the 40 years since he wrote his book by pioneering the view that autism is a physiologically based disease that is partially influenced by genetic susceptibily, but not caused by genetics. He has suggested that "autism" is triggered by environmental factors, including a possible role for vaccines and the consitituents of vaccines. Most importantly, his work has led to the development of biomedical treatment for affected children. Everyone who wants to understand the development of our understanding of the disorder called "autism" should read this book.