01/13/2026
The issues described in this COFAR blog post are not new. Somehow history repeats and cycles. Everyone remembers Bruno Bettelheim, the psychologist without any psychology degree or training. He popularized the “refrigerator mother” theory. Bettelheim blamed parents for the issues that his developmentally disabled students experienced. That was convenient for him. He cruelly dictated that the parents be removed from the equation. He decided whether or not or when students were “ready” to have contact with their evil parents. Many students were prohibited from visiting their parents. In the school he ran, abuse was rampant. He used the very same tactics described by Maura in this blog post.
A resident of a group home suffered serious injuries there requiring hospitalization, and now his family is barred for undisclosed reasons from visiting him in the hospital. Late last month, …
