Comments on: Mother Guilt Returns

By: Calum Warden

Calum Warden — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:21:22 +0000

none of you have heard of me, but i’d just like to express my admiration of your views on this blog
i’m not a parent of an autistic child, but i am an autistic teenager myself who was raised only by my mum
and i can promise you the media is wrong, autistic kids don’t have a “disease”, we’re not “suffering”, we just see the world differently
i am so glad to see parents not looking who to blame, and just accepting their kids as they are and trying to help them
support your kids, become close to them, guide them and they will be capable of doing wonders

By: tracey

tracey — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:26:15 +0000

Througout life I have discovered that guilt is a useless emotion…even though it is an emotion I often encounter with myself. The thing about guilt is leads to depression and depression does help anyone, let alone the two little guys in my life who need me the most.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:56:33 +0000

@The ASMan,

and what 2 children are alike at all….maybe it’s a mother/female thing to feel some sort of guilt, for a variety of reasons…. I actually agree that thinking of autism as genetic is “empowering.” Am glad to say I’m like Charlie—-very best—

By: Cliff

Cliff — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:06:06 +0000

Well, I think, unfortunently, there’s rarely a situation that there isn’t guilt, so you’re describing the rare exception. I know when I “was more severely” autistic (the past tense verb quoted because it’s kind of pointless and protean in my context, and because I hate all of those terms), there was an awful lot of guilt without reason.

Even some people feel culpable for their genetics. Such constructions are powerful indeed in inducing guilt.

Cliff

By: theasman

theasman — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:57:14 +0000

Kristina,

A small criticism, You are presenting only one side of the picture. As if all autistic children are the same. I cant see why your husband’s colleague who got her kid via DonorX should feel guilt at all?? I am supposing he didnt have the mother anitbody just by coincindence most of the women that selected him.

The fact that autism is genetic is empowering. It is the same bs from Autism speaks which in my opinion is antiparent. To spread such hopelessness is antiparent.

By: Autism and Cancer

Autism and Cancer — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:51:29 +0000

[...] a lot of sad, painful, wrenching, tough moments—and like I said yesterday in reference to mother guilt, lots of happy, sappiness, fun and good times. Nothing beats watching Charlie turn somersaults in [...]

By: Melody

Melody — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:29:32 +0000

This is an intriguing point. Even as recently as a couple years ago, my dad asked me if I had any resentment to him about being autistic (he’s also on the spectrum) – and he was the one who explained it as a different wiring of the brain, and was not given a “prognosis” of any sort (my parents’ only expectation of us is to be decent people to the best of our abilities). I remember being quite caught off guard from that question, and reassuring him that there was no resentment of any kind; that I liked who I was and asked him why he’d ask that.

By: Marla

Marla — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:35:19 +0000

I do think Autism has a genetic cause. No matter what the cause though I don’t think I would have guilt if it was my genetics that caused it. Maybe I would feel differently if I gave birth to M but I doubt it. I do feel guilty for lots of other things though. Like being snippy with her or being too lazy to read her a book when I just want her to go to bed.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:42:36 +0000

Sappy’s ok with me and in our house. If I may indulge in another moment: Seeing Charlie get off the yellow school bus (smiling, sometimes and sometimes not). Gets to me every time.

By: daedalus2u

daedalus2u — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:44:47 +0000

I am extremely skeptical that maternal antibodies cause autism. None of the testing has been contemporaneous, that is the maternal serum was not collected during the pregnancy but after and usually much after, that is after an autism diagnosis which is at least 2+ years later.

I agree with Maya who makes a number of excellent points that are in conflict with a maternal antibodies cause autism hypothesis. Most cases of autoimmune sensitization are associated with tissue damage and are not necessarily the “cause” of that damage. Damaged tissue needs to be cleared by the immune system. That can easily cause autoimmune sensitization.

There was a case discussed by Revere over at Effect Measure where individuals working in a slaughterhouse developed antibodies to brain tissue following exposure to the brain tissue of the animals being slaughtered. Removing the exposure did resolve the issue for those people.