Describe a Social-Psycholgical Explanation of Autism Spectrum Disorder

When Leo Kanner first categorised ASD, he noted a lack of maternal warmth among children with ASD. from this statement, a theory was bred that ASD could be explained by a so called 'refrigerator mother', who according to the Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim 'had defrosted just long enough to produce a child'. Bettelheim likened the 'emotional deprivation' of children with Autism to those at a prisoner at war camp - and stated that the lack of maternal warmth and kindness suffered by children with ASD lead to their social-communicative difficulties. Though now rebuked, Bettelheim's theories meant that for many years, and still to this day there was significant stigma around Mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.