An outrage.

Delayed the Angelus by 4 minutes!

No shame…

I would like to see a peer review on his theory.

What an arrogant man.

I agree with him. maybe he was z bit blunt about it. sure think about it. if you couldnt talk and were trying to tell someone something. if they didnt take the time to understand you. you would either shut down or get frustrated n violent even prehaps.

In my opinion I get the impression that no one really knows what causes Autism judging by his comments. About 11 years ago there was another controvertial comment by Dr Andrew Wakefield linking Autism to the MMR. It would be more appropriate to do clinical trials & studies rather that giving a “suggestion”. As a sister of a special needs adult, it would break my parents heart to hear that they were somehow at fault for what happened to my brother. This is a very emotive issue & should be treated as so.

This man speaks unadulterated nonsense, and those previous posters who agree with him have obviously never read about Autism or encountered these children and their parents. This is a very sensitive issue, so people should refrain from commenting from a base of ignorance of the condition. This is not whether Sexton or O’Gara should line out for Ireland. It is far more black and white than that, and should not be open to bar stool “opinions”.

im not suggesting that parents cause autisim at all. but im sure some would be communicating better if they were to do courses. its a two way street.

The Angry masses ridiculed Freud or Jung for their contributions at first. It was not very flattering news to ‘most’ people.

I agree communication is important but the child also needs to initiate the communication in order for the parent to respond. It’s not a one way process directed by the parent. Frequently children with ASD do not initiate any communication or seek it out from others making it difficult for the most loving parent to respond. Social communication is one of the core impairments in ASD. Therefore communication with these children requires some innovation often involving visual symbols. For some it is often their preferred way of communicating because they have difficulty inferring the intent of others. Parents’ traditional ways of showing love adapts accordingly. I refer to children with more severe ASD and not Aspergers. Laying the blame at the parent’s doorstep is totally inappropriate.

He is an idiot beyond belief. If he doesn’t believe in autism, I personally invite him into my home and spend time with my beautiful sister. Jess is severely autistic but has been coming on in leaps and bounds due to the fantastic work done by the staff at her school, Saplings. She is literally the light of my life. Surely, by Humphreys “theory” if one child in a family is autistic, then all children should be due to the parents “cold” parenting. I am absolutely livid by such claims, my parents are loving and to say it was their “inadvertent” actions that caused my sister’s autism is an insult to them and to the entire autistic community. He makes me sick.

I probably shouldnt write this but I keep coming up against just how dangerous Dr Humphries’ article is. Dr Stephen Shore suggests a metaphor that I think explains the situation best. For most ‘normal’ people their social ability is like a ball, with which they can do anything. For those on the spectrum their social ability begins as a granite block. The thing is that through experience you learn tricks and cheats that cuts the corners off the block so that it becomes more of an octagon. It may never have as smooth or as easy to use as the ball but it can get you to where you need to go. If it hadnt been for my Mum’s strength of character and love I would still have the granite block, leaving me stuck in an institution somewhere. Something that Mum had been told that she should do. The danger of Mr Humphries article is thus that people on the spectrum will never learn how to cope and be left behind. I’m not suggesting that all people on the spectrum can grow themselves out of a neurological condition, especially one with as broad a range of issues as Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Rather I’m asking that people dont automatically define difference as bad. We all have trememdous potential so long as it is allowed to grow. The wonderful thing that this has highlighted is just how strong the parents and families dealing with ASD’s are. Unfortunately articles like Mr Humphries show the level of ignorance that still exists in many when it comes to the Autism debate.

I find it very hard to believe that this is the sole and only cause, plus he has no real evidence. Surprising that somebody who is a qualified psychologist can come up with such thin evidence. Most of these social developmental problems are due to a combination of factors, not just one blanket one. That said, one of the parents of an autistic child I know of is socially very difficult and dysfunctional himself, but that’s only one atypical case. Parental behaviour might be a factor in a minority of cases, but it’s unlikely to be the only factor.

The man is obviously a quack. I heard him interviewed and he has all the symptoms of a snake oil salesman.

Humphreys has not “opened up a debate”. He has a fringe opinion – one that was discredited in the 1960s. Debating this sets us back 50 years.

Would there be a debate if If Humphreys wrote an article that said smoking does not cause cancer? No, it is just wrong – plain and simple (rather like the man now that I think of it).

I think its unfair for people that dont live with autism to comment about this including said doctor. Noone knows more about autism than those who live with it. Im very sceptical of some of these guys expertise. I live with bi polar & I can tell you I never met a doctor that knows as much about it as I do cos i live it. We must also question these peoples attitudes as we dont have support in real terms from the health service in this country. I would not have the confidence in the people that work in such a broken system. I think its important to point out that until we have a proper working system here we should be sceptical about what they say.

There should be mandatory Mensa tests prior to all public broadcasts to protect humanity

Somebody bloody put this guy back in his box and all of those agreeing with him, he nor you haven’t got a clue.

Spot on I’m autistic, my parents have NEVER being bad to me, the chap hasn’t got a clue. I personally won’t ever buy the Examiner now and I hope everyone in the country stops visiting their site and buying their papers, cripple them completely into extinction to set an example to everyone, don’t mess with us. Of course that won’t happen cause as we can see above certain people fall for bloody anything papers spout unfortunately, but I would like at least a few people to do this to hurt them at least a little bit financially and I urge everyone reading this comment to abandon that paper.

Why did this Article get such coverage to cause so much hurt and distress to Parents and families who live with Autism particularly as he has no documented evidence to his claims

He appears to have no compassion, no empathy and shows no sign of remorse. He appears to seek attention, regardless of whether that attention is the result of people agreeing with him , or not. He does not appear to have the ability to understand the pain and suffering he is causing. Indeed, he seems to quite enjoy this. It is, as if he is actually taking pleasure in causing people pain. These psychological traits remind me of particularly nasty individuals, who for the life of me, I cannot remember what they are called. Ahem…

Are some of the medical profession running scared and twisting the blame because of the epidemic of autism, ADHD, and other forms of brain damage which has been linked to vaccine injury?

Fox News- us Pays $Millions in secret to vaccine -caused autism injured kids.
http://philosophers-stone.co.uk/wordpress/2011/05/fox-news-%E2%80%93-us-pays-millions-in-secret-to-vaccine-caused-autism-injured-kids/

Fox News- US Pays $ millions in secret to vaccine-caused autism injured kids.

http://philosophers-stone.co.uk/wordpress/2011/05/fox-news-%E2%80%93-us-pays-millions-in-secret-to-vaccine-caused-autism-injured-kids/

The problem with the psychodynamic view is that: (1) It doesn’t adequately explain autistic behaviours; (2) there is no significant correspondence between deprivation behaviours of neglected children and behaviours of autistic children – in fact there are vast differences – you would expect otherwise if Humphreys proposal was true; (3) it doesn’t adequately explain the prevelance of epilepsy or other concurrent disorders such as SID in ASD; (4) it doesn’t explain why parents of children with autism have non-autistic siblings; (5) research contradicts a developmental view – e.g. behaviours evident at birth (such as atypical vocalisations, rigidity on touch), plus in one study 50% of people with autism showed evidence of organic brain disorder, and there is also evidence in the literature of organic brain damage such as meningitus leading to rapid onset autism; (6) the previous leading exponent of the field was exposed as a child abuser and a charlatan; (7) it’s a chicken and egg fallacy – just because intensive and adaptive social interventions lead to visible improvements in autism doesn’t mean maladaptive social responses cause it – that’s like saying penicillin causes measles.

Sorry – I missed one out. Why the gender difference of at least 4:1? Mummies don’t like boys?

Here in Ireland, we have a long held tradition of putting unstinting faith in the medical profession. If Dr. Humphrey’s stands by his claims well then let’s look at the evidence. You can’t just come out with a comment like that and not have some sample studies to back it up. That would be totally unprofessional if not completely irresponsible given his credentials. If Autism is, as he says, linked to parental neglect, well then that is a very serious allegation for any family to take on board. But before we start lighting fires and going on a witch hunt let’s take a step back for a moment. This theory was surely mentioned long before now and if it is just a notional idea well then it needs to be treated as such. Just because Dr. Humphrey’s has letters after his name does not make him right, it’s just a highly qualified opinion.