Autism science and psychoanalysis

[Trith]

#8150

Hello,

I live in France, where psychoanalysis is till taught in 80% of universities. In general, according to psychoanalysis, autism is said to be caused by a mother that is either too present or too absent. And this is still what is taught to this day. But it is generally argued now, by other specialists, that this theory is only based on individual observations subjected to bias and that it was not developped using the scientific method.

My question is: do you know if this theory has been studied rigorously by anyone using the scientific method? I am interested in both results, in favor or against that theory.

From my humble point of view, I think such a study should be easy. It is already possible to quantify autism using different tests, we can estimate someones IQ, their propensity to dissociation, so many things. Why not try to quantify the mother’s absence or invasiveness and compare it to the autism score of the child? If you know of any study that did something like that, or anything close to that, please let me know.

[Autism Independent UK]

#8161

From our web page some 15+ years ago. https://autismuk.com/autism/what-is-autism/

Most early theories of autism were psychogenic, emphasizing the role of parents in causing this severe disability of behaviour and development. Psychogenic theorists argued that parents of autistic parents were intelligent, obsessive and lacking in warmth. These theorists identified the cause of autism in the family environment and described possible mechanisms; lack of maternal communication, pathological parent-child interaction, inadequate stimulation, or reactions to parental rejection. The psycholdynamic theorists, however, have never generated supporting evidence. The only empirically verified studies concerning the emotional status of parents find that the extreme stress of being a parent of an autistic child can cause emotional difficulties. These difficulties, however, are in reaction to having an autistic child and have, in no way, been shown as a cause.

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