From Autism and Mutism to an Enlivened Self: A Case Narrative with Reflections on Early Development

Description

From Autism and Mutism to an Enlivened Self explores the importance of intimacy, interaction with the environment and the mind-body connection in early childhood development, with specific reference to autism. Built around a detailed case study of a severely autistic child, the book offers an illuminating account of the development and successful treatment of autism both from the perspective of the clinician and from the family. In Part I, Diana Thielst (writing under a pseudonym) gives a description of her experience with her daughter who was autistic at birth, minimally verbal at age five, and did not respond to her name. She details the severe family stress and her ineffectual attempts to get professional help. Finally, she hears of consultants who may be able to help in St. Petersburg, Russia. Guided by the consultants, Thielst and her daughter then embark on a uniquely innovative method for Anna to both build a vocabulary and for the first time learn the value of coordinated and cooperative effort. Armed with a vocabulary and a long history of solo pursuits of organizing inanimate objects, Anna suddenly begins to explore "human" interaction as revealed in comics– a turning on to an emotional life of relatedness and intimacy. In Part II, Joseph D. Lichtenberg uses his knowledge of neonate and early infancy to offer the reader an understanding of autism – its history – and a unique comparison of the normal well adapted neonate and infant at one year with the disrupted development of the child with autism. Lichtenberg’s theoretical construct of three major pathways to a healthy adapted development breaks new theoretical ground and gives enrichment to a contemporary portrayal of the autistic experience. With unusually rich clinical material grounded in accessible theory, the authors jointly offer a new perspective on understanding, treating and living with autism. From Autism and Mutism to an Enlivened Self will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists and clinicians working with autistic children. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction PART I: Anna Chapter 1: From missing relationship at birth to missing name and language at age five Birth First year 12 months 24 months 30 months 36 months Her fourth birthday Her fifth birthday Chapter 2: The four critical months before the sixth birthday: from learning her name to reading and from reading to learning to speak in 1000 hours Meeting with Dr. Traugott Meeting with a special educator and speech pathologist specializing in minimally verbal children: more than just a teaching program Back home Month No. 1, January 1992 Month No. 2, February 1992 Month No. 3, March 1992 Month No. 4, April 1992 Her sixth birthday Chapter 3: New life begins: discovering the world beyond Legos and puzzles, 1992 spring to 1993 fall What changed during the first four months of highly intensive multi-intervention? From reading to speaking Discovering that sounds in the environment have meaning Visiting the art gallery Math Math and language in public Puzzling interpretation of her nonverbal IQ score of 146 by a child psychiatrist Her seventh birthday Introducing social development and independence: going to school together with typically developing peers Existing speech enables her to start speech therapy How a library becomes her favorite place to spend time after school Chapter 4: Coming to America becomes a window to the world Middle school High school University and beyond Anna about her early memories What can professionals and parents learn from the developmental trajectory of my daughter? PART II: Commentary on two remarkable journeys: one therapeutic for Dr. Diana Thielst and Anna; and one of discovery for psychiatry and psychoanalysis Chapter 5: The recognition of autism as a developmental disorder Kanner’s approach A comment on terms The etiology of early infantile autism Two other experiences of children with autism Interest and purpose: expanding the scope of being a doer doing Chapter 6: At birth what becomes activated in normal development and fails to become activated in neonates with autism Comparing adaptive qualities and capacities normally emerging in the first year of life with the more limited resources of the one-year-old infant with autism Chapter 7: A doer doing and the core sense of self Infant–mother face-to-face interactions and the development of conversational language Faces – the pathway to intimacy; inanimate objects – the pathway to mastery The pathway to a healthy body, physical functioning, and mind–body connection Turning on to human relatedness The turn on of adapting infants Early steps that unfold and integrate in adaptive development References Index