Possible Link Between Autism and Parents with Mental Illness?
This article caught my attention yesterday because I work with developmentally disabled adults. The research in this article has found that there is a possible link between mental illness in parents with autistic children. While this would be great at linking certain genetic qualities to autism, this article worries me a bit and I feel the need to provide some education on the subject.
I know that in the past, autism was used as a measurement of a mother’s love for her unborn child. I’ve worked very closely with many people who have autism or other autism-spectrum disorders and I know that this is not the case. None of the parents of the autistic people I’ve worked with were any less involved than anyone else. In fact, these parents seem to take an extra interest in their children. In some cases, I’ve never had it so easy when asking for help with behaviors, eating patterns, goal planning, etc. That myth is dead to many people who have worked with autistic consumers, but there is still a lot of ignorance out there.
I’m afraid that parents of autistic children will now have to protect themselves from the assumption that they have a mental illness or have been hospitalized. It seems like it opens a new avenue to blame the parents for their children’s disability. The study also found that the risk was higher if the mother had a mental illness as opposed to the father.
There is so little education out there regarding disabilities already and any more ignorant people taking the article and twisting it to blame and condemn people is going to be wrong and should be stopped. And so, if you happen across my humble little blog and you are curious about the growing research in autism, its treatment, prevention and diagnosis, please visit the following sites.
And don’t forget to pick up a puzzle ribbon, 
Les Feldman Said:
on May 7, 2008 at 8:47 am
I wonder if you have noticed that the father’s of autistic children, without a family history of autism or schizophrenia of OCD are older men (over 33)?
Chris Said:
on May 7, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Hmm…. I’d certainly be wary of the claim of the existence of such a link. After all, do mentally ill people automatically birth mentally ill children? If not, I’m not sure on what basis such claims could be realistically purported.
lunawolf Said:
on May 7, 2008 at 10:49 pm
No, I had not seen any research on it. I’ll look into it.
Will Rhodes Said:
on May 8, 2008 at 10:17 am
I’ll ask my wife on this one, Luna - she is a Google wizard at finding things.
I am sure she would like to help.
Will Rhodes Said:
on May 10, 2008 at 6:24 am
I don’t know if you would be interested, Luna - but I was watching a film the other night and this post, and what you said came to mind. The film was Lars and the real girl.
Not sure if you will like it but it is well worth a watch.
lunawolf Said:
on May 11, 2008 at 7:46 am
I looked it up on imdb; it looks funny! I’ll check it out. There’s also a book I read called “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night.” It was great, but it was kind of sad.