Bettelheim and the Psychology of Children One of the most controversial non-fiction writers of the 20th century, Bruno Bettelheim studied and developed theories on the effects of fairy tales on the minds of children. Bettelheim, a renowned child psychologist and controversial writer on treatments for autism, stirred controversy throughout his life, particularly through his famous "refrigerator mother" theory of the development of autism in children. However, it is mostly linked to his book The Uses of Enchantment, in which he describes the link between the development of a child's mind and the way fairy tales are portrayed. The two theories he has on fairy tales and children and the development of autism are linked in that the way he states how fairy tales should be defined coincides with the link between the expansion of the child's mind and the relationship developed between parent and child. child, countering the “refrigerator mother” theory. Because of the sensitivity of the topics Bettelheim wrote about, his book attracted many literary scholars, fellow psychologists, and critical journalists. Among people who have read the book, the overwhelming majority of reviews criticize Bettelheim's lack of functioning of the human mind and his exceptionally flawed theory of the development of autism. The controversies surrounding Bettelheim extol from his book. Other psychologists around the world who read the book were enraged by his ideas, and one critic was crazy enough to say: "Bettelheim would impose meaning on child development through the therapeutic use of the authoritative and unscientific folktale, but the his position is symptomatic of numerous disease-perpetuating humanitarian educators wish to understand...... middle of paper ......understanding of the topic, his work is scrutinized and studied thoroughly, but overlooked due to increasingly debunked philosophies as “unscientific,” usually referring to his ignored theories about autism and “refrigerator mothers.” These claims take away credibility from his book The Uses of Enchantment and often critics and people completely devalue the book. Even though some of his ideas had been planned before, his ideas have received wide admiration, especially his ideas on oral folklore versus picture books. Ultimately, Bettelheim demonstrated his knowledge of the child psyche through his new ideas about how a child's mind works and how fairy tales could shape a child's imagination, as well as giving him access to early maturity and understanding of the world . this is anything but a fairy tale.