State’s services must catch up with what parents already know

IT’S nearly two weeks since psychologist Tony Humphreys sparked outraged by saying children on the autism spectrum were shutting down because of an “absence of expressed love” from their parents.

My first reaction was inarticulate rage. Yes, I have a child in the autism spectrum. Yes, I love him to bits. Yes, I show it.

However, as the rage dies, I realise that Humphreys’ blunder is a symptom of a much wider malaise: Traditional psychology is defending its territory.