The “refrigerator mother” theory was promoted by the late Bruno Bettelheim, who suggested that autism was caused by mothers who did not want their children or wished they were dead, and therefore treated them coldly. This theory has long since gone out of favor. The book he wrote about it, “The Empty Fortress,” was originally published in 1967, an era in which fewer than 1/3 of mothers of young children were employed, so I don’t think that even Bettleheim blamed mothers for working outside the home.

My sister, who did not work outside the home, wanted a baby for so long, and she loved and focused all her attention on her firstborn child. By the time he was a toddler, it was clear that he had some serious developmental disabilities, and he was later diagnosed as autistic. Obviously his autism was not caused either by my sister’s lack of love or outside employment, since this child was wanted and adored, and she didn’t work, even before his birth.

The idea that cold working mothers cause autism in their children, and then blame thimerosal, is absurd.