How one mother challenged the medical establishment and transformed the misconceptions of autistic children and their parents In the early 1960s, Massachusetts writer and homemaker Clara Park took her two-year-old daughter, Jessy, to a specialist after she refused to connect with others and did not answer to her own name. Following the conventional wisdom of the time, the psychiatrist diagnosed Jessy with autism but blamed Clara for being the source of Jessy's isolation. Experts claimed she was the prototypical "refrigerator mother," a cold, intellectual mother who starved her children of the natural affection they needed to develop properly. Refusing to accept this, Clara decided to document Jessy's behaviors to scientifically determine why she behaved differently from her three siblings; however, this only further fueled the psychiatrists' opinion that Clara was an "intellectual" mother who failed to follow her natural maternal instincts of love.
Clara fought back with her influential 1967 book,
The Siege, arguing against the prevalent view that autism was caused by maternal rejection. As she documented Jessy's progress over the years, she shared her insights and encourage other parents to seek education and support for their autistic children. She would become a prominent speaker and activist to improve the lives of people with autism.
Using previously unexamined archival sources and first-hand interviews, science historian Maria Vicedo illuminates the story of how one mother worked to change medical and popular attitudes toward autism. Vicedo argues that the experiences of parents should be recognized by highlighting that maternal care can be both loving and intelligent.
