Outrage over autism claims

Controversial claims by a well-known Irish psychologist that parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may be in some way responsible for this disorder have been strongly rejected by Clare psychologists.
Dr Tony Humphreys, who worked in County Clare for a number of years, has drawn a storm of protest from parents and national and international health experts, who have dismissed a number of assertions he made in a recent Irish Examiner article.
In his article, Dr Humphreys stated, “In studies in 1997 and 2001 it was found that the children and grandchildren of engineers were more likely to be autistic and that mathematicians had higher rates of autism than other professions. What is shocking is that Professor Simon Baron-Cohen [director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University] and the team of researchers are one: assuming that autism is a scientific fact and, two: missing the glaringly obvious fact that if the adults they researched live predominantly in their heads and possess few or no heart qualities, their children will need to find some way of defending themselves against the absence of expressed love and affection and emotional receptivity.”
The outspoken consultant clinical psychologist, author and speaker also claimed other researchers had concluded, “there is no such thing as autism and the label should be abolished”.
Dr Humphreys said the research conclusions of Dr Timimi and his colleagues in their book The Myth of Autism, of Dr Robert Whittaker in his book Anatomy of an Epidemic and of Dr Richard Bentall in his book Doctoring the Mind showed no conclusive evidence for child and adult psychiatric syndromes. The research work of the American researcher Dr Allen Schore also supports their findings, he claimed.
However, four senior Clare-based psychologists working in the Clare Early Intervention Service (CEIS) in Ennis – Martin O’Connor, Mark Stanton, Dr Toby Sachsenmaier and Noirín Buckley – insist his assertions have no basis in best practice or international research.
Ennis Voices for Autism (EVA) secretary, Gearóid Mannion said like many others, the group was appalled at the contents of Dr Humphreys’ article.
“He is fully entitled to his opinion. When the overwhelming medical consensus is completely opposed to his out-dated theory, we would have expected him to show more respect to parents of children with autism.
“The group has been very encouraged by the many comments from experts in the area of autism/ASD who have denounced Dr Humphreys’ position.
“We hope that the whole episode will actually improve awareness and misunderstanding of autism, despite the initial unwelcome affects of Mr Humphreys’ article,” he said.
Eileen Keane said members of the West Clare Voices for Autism support group were also deeply concerned with the comments.
Dr Humphreys’ observations have also drawn the ire of Health Minister Dr James Reilly, who said they were “outrageous and a slur on parents”.
Speaking on TV3 News, Minister Reilly, whose 25-year-old son graduated from TCD with an honours degree in genetics stated, “I say this to parents – let nobody set a limit on your child’s horizon. If one of your children has a problem with autism and the others don’t, it is not your parenting skills that are the issue”.
Describing the article as “highly distressing for parents”, CEIS clinical leader Martin O’Connor insisted it is important to note the speed and volume of rebuttals from professionals, professional bodies in Ireland and abroad.
Concern has been expressed that Dr Humphreys’ article may result in a greater reluctance for parents to seek assistance if their child is presenting with ASD symptoms.
“I hope that people in the wider community now know for sure that it is not the case. It is not supported by any research and professionals don’t hold any belief.
Mr O’Connor cited a document containing best practice guidelines put together by the Federation of Voluntary Bodies, which was devised by parents and professionals working together.
“It is not just a sentence, every word is important, because you are hanging on to everything they say and you will remember every word they say, it sticks in your mind. they really need to plan their sentences and their words because this is going to stay with you for the rest of your life,” stated a parent.
“They are powerful words and a timely reminder to everyone concerned about the vulnerability and strengths that is there among families when there is a child with a disability. People in the media have a huge power, a lot of unintended but damaging affects can happen,” said Mr O’Connor.
Senior clinical psychologist Mark Stanton stressed the earlier a child with ASD gets intervention, the earlier they could start to grow and develop. He said research is not looking for the “smoking gun” that causes autism and instead recognises a variety of factors, genetic and neurological, can cause it.

He explained psychologists are guided by the code of ethics by the Psychological Society of Ireland, which emphasise the importance of clearly differentiating between facts, theories and opinions, hypotheses and ideas and working with evidence-based practice.
“It is very hard to find any evidence to suggest that there is any connection that the way parents relate to their child or parenting style is connected with autism,” he said.
While a diagnosis was one part of a child’s treatment, Ms Buckley noted a very significant part of their work looked at child’s strengths and challenges of how ASD affects them individually and looked at their needs in terms of socially meaningful intervention.
Ms Sachsenmaier described Minister Reilly’s statement as very powerful, while Mr O’Connor stated it was important to record the HSE in no way supported Dr Humphreys’ claims.
In his statement referring to conclusions in various books by himself and other colleagues, Dr Humphreys said,  “In my article, I was reporting these up-to-date conclusions as good news. I encourage people to read these very reputable authors and then come to their own conclusion.
“For myself, these authors’ research findings supported what I had believed for many years. There was no intention on my part to hurt anybody; on the contrary, what I wanted was to provide hope and be involved in discovering the solutions to what now appear to be non-biological problems.
I need to reiterate that in my 30 years of practice, I never found any parent or teacher or other who coldly or intentionally hurt a child,” he concluded.