Refrigerator Mothers

Refrigerator Mothers is a 2003 television documentary film by Kartemquin Films for PBS's P.O.V. series. The film paints an intimate portrait of an entire generation of American mothers whose children were diagnosed with autism. Labeled 'refrigerator mothers' in the 1950s and 1960s by the medical establishment for their supposedly frigid and detached mothering, these women "have emerged with strong, resilient voices to share the details of their personal journeys."