232:, a label based on the belief that autistic behaviors are the result of a child closing their conscious self off from extreme family conflict and the emotional frigidity of the child's mother. In the initial edition of the book, Park referred to her daughter under the pseudonym "Elly", out of fear that her daughter would be able to read the book when she was older and would be embarrassed. The book was credited as one of the first to allay the guilt of parents, and with helping to serve as a resource to families and therapists dealing with autism.
261:, credited Park as being "one of the first parents who had the courage to share their story at a time when autism was poorly understood". Bridget A. Taylor of the Alpine Learning Group credited Park's writings for helping parents understand autism and "to have higher expectations for their children" and provided therapists with "an invaluable reading assignment to learn what the experience is like".
190:, where she learned to draw. By the time of her mother's death, Jessica had worked for decades at the mail room at Williams College (so long in fact that the mailroom is named after her) and painted, and sold, drawings of streetscapes. Jessica had her first solo art exhibit at the
288:(Northwestern University Press). Howard Nemerov noted in his preface to that collection that " range is great, and consistently convincing from Dante and Shakespeare up through Jane Austen and Trollope and on to Richard Wilbur and James Merrill ..."
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355:"Autistic artist has first solo show at Williams College Art Museum: Jessica Park's attention to detail is typical of her disability. But the sudden flights of fancy that have brought her paintings critical acclaim are pure artistry."
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at age 86 on July 3, 2010, of complications from a fall. In addition to
Jessica, Park was survived by her husband, David Park, a retired Williams College physics professor, two other daughters, (
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Any discussion of Clara Park's achievements would certainly be incomplete were it restricted to her works on autism. She was a widely published essayist. Her essays were published in
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and elsewhere on subjects ranging from memory to Samuel Pepys to the works of
Anthony Trollope to those of William Empson. These essays were collected and published in
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college
English teacher and author who was best known for her writings about her experiences raising her autistic daughter, the artist Jessica Park. Her 1967 book,
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183:, where she was on the faculty from 1975 to 1994. She received honorary doctorate from Williams and from The Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts.
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was credited as one of the first books to allay the blame that parents, especially mothers, were made to feel at having caused their child's
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credited the book with requiring "the reader to wonder about who we are and what enables us to ask such self-aware questions".
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called the 2001 book "a monument to the patience and care that brought Jessy out of her sterile paradise". A review in the
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Intelligent Love. The Story of Clara Park, Her
Autistic Daughter, and the Myth of the Refrigerator Mother.
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415:"CLARA PARK CONTINUES THE STORY OF HER DAUGHTER'S EFFORTS TO BREAK THROUGH THE WALL OF AUTISM"
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was released in 1967, at a time when autism was little understood, and common wisdom based on
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continued the story of
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Park was driven to write about her daughter's experience with autism, and her book
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Jessica Park, who was first diagnosed with autism at age three, graduated from
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in 1944. She married physicist David Park in 1945, and they both attended the
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University of
Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni
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228:'s theories attributed responsibility to family pathology, led by the
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318:"Clara Claiborne Park, 86, Dies; Wrote About Autistic Child"
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Clara
Justine Claiborne was born on August 19, 1923, in
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The Siege: The First Eight Years of an
Autistic Child
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286:Rejoining the Common Reader: Essays, 1962-1990
237:Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter's Life with Autism
143:(August 19, 1923 – July 3, 2010) was an
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16:American college English teacher and author
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396:"Author raised awareness of autism"
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515:People from Tarrytown, New York
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155:through their cold detachment.
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199:Williamstown, Massachusetts
177:Berkshire Community College
67:Williamstown, Massachusetts
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510:Williams College faculty
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485:American tax resisters
360:the Providence Journal
173:University of Michigan
95:University of Michigan
278:The American Scholar,
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205:and Rachel), a son (
141:Clara Claiborne Park
25:Clara Claiborne Park
451:Beacon Press, 2021.
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230:refrigerator mother
216:and books on autism
165:Tarrytown, New York
323:The New York Times
282:The Hudson Review,
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382:Los Angeles Times
169:Radcliffe College
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110:Scientific career
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61:(2010-07-03)
59:July 3, 2010
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470:2010 deaths
465:1923 births
83:Citizenship
75:Nationality
459:Categories
292:References
37:1923-08-19
214:The Siege
207:Paul Park
159:Biography
149:The Siege
45:Tarrytown
145:American
119:Teaching
78:American
49:New York
375:Staff.
153:autism
116:Fields
101:Spouse
104:David
349:via
56:Died
31:Born
280:in
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