Autism advocate from refrigerator mother era dies

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Kirsten Langsetmo, an early member of the Autism Society of Minnesota, died July 4. She was 88.

In the 1960s, many people believed autism was the result of a cold, unloving mother, said Ruth Agar, a former social worker in the Robbinsdale school district. In that era, Langsetmo fought to have her daughter mainstreamed in school and pushed the district to hire an aide help her — it was the first time they made such a hire, Agar said.