This article appears to be more along the lines of what constitutes RAD vs. autism, rather than what RAD is and can mean to parents. There is a lot of information on RAD and if you're interested in it, read more than just this article.

As a teacher who works with children with autism I was shocked at the article and even more shocked the writer is/claims to be autistic. First of all the article states children with RAD may have had birthmothers with depression or the birthmother may be emotionally unattached. This is NOT TRUE for children with autism. Many studies on autism clearly state that autism is NOT caused by anything the birthmother may be feeling. The term refirgerator mother has been disproved many times and is EXTREMELY offensive to many loving parents of children with autism. The aritcle suggests that children with autism may be born into challenging environments, I know MANY people without autism who have been born into horrible environments and many children with autism whose birth and home life are more than ideal. The question if children with autism being able to sense or not, is totally irrelevant. Many children with autism do sense. They sense everything to an extreme and are in a constant state of sensory overload. That is part of the reason they separate themselves from others, NOT because of the birth mother. AS far as suggesting the autism rate has gone up because mothers are too busy to bond with their children, is non-scientific. Possible changes in environment (air,water,etc), better diagnostic materials, acceptance of autism as a developmental disorder, and several possible "autism genes" are all being researched as to why the epidemic is taking place. There are no studies if a busy birthmother will be emotionally unavailable or will be too involved with her computer to care for her child. Scientists know better! Even the author knew the article was not accurate. That is why there was a disclaimer at the end. Yes there are some similiarities of they symptoms of autism and RAD, this means nothing. There are also similiar symptoms between a heartburn and a heart attack. One would hope that the real professionals would know the difference !!!!

Andrea - Thanks for commenting on this. I re-read the article and can see what you are saying. I found this article after seeing a report on being able diagnose autism in young babies (earlier for *some* children but not all). I was amazed that the most obvious symptom was the child NOT making eye contact with the parent. This is also a red flag with RAD (and I am only speaking in VERY young children who cannot express themselves well). So, when I saw the bullet points on this, I *drilled* in on the possiblity of a child being mis-diagnosed as autistic as opposed to having RAD (or at least ignoring the possibility of RAD affecting the situation). Since this was something I saw happen, I suspect that parents might also miss it. But I would not say that the symptoms are so much the same as a child grows. I was looking at this as more of a defaulting back to autism when the doctor is not familiar with RAD.

I think that any family experiencing odd behavior...like a child refusing to make eye contact or interact with the parent should consider formal diagnosis.

I did not see the article as so much saying that they are alike or that birthmother depression might cause autism. My interpretation was that RAD or attachment issues COULD contribute to the problem.

Still, I am on the lookout for one of my favorite in-depth articles on RAD.

Kelly: Even though I don't agree with parts of the article, I do understand your reasoning for posting it. I commend you (and the rest of Guatadopt.com) for keeping your readers informed about everything involved in Guatemalan adoptions. Your web page is greatly appreciated. :) Andrea