autistic spectrum disorder
A wide range of interventions and treatments is now available for autistic children. In this workshop we will explore the specific contribution of psychotherapeutic work with autistic children and their families. I hope we will also consider ways in which the phenomenon of autism is interesting to psychoanalytic thinking. Understanding autism can tell us about the early development of social relationships and how these contribute to mental... more
Increasing publicity given to the raised incidence and the nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) offers a challenge to child psychotherapists to enter the debate about the phenomenology, aetiologies and appropriate treatments of ASD. Engaging with other theories of autism such as developmental psychology and physiological accounts has been very productive for child psychotherapy. The work of Anne Alvarez and Vivienne Green and their... more
Defining characteristics of the Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) include difficulties with social interaction, language and creative imagination. Yet ASC children are often highly emotionally sensitive, inventing unusual thought patterns to regulate THEIR experience of distorted social and physical realities. This paper presents a Speech Act analysis of psychotherapy with autistic children, drawing on Derrida’s critique of Searle’s... more
This paper describes an ongoing evaluation of child psychotherapy with seven children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The assessment and evaluation model used involves parents and enhances shared understanding of each child's experience and characteristics, respecting individual strengths and limitations. Treatment aims include understanding the children's phenomenological experience and enhancing emotional regulation, to... more
This paper describes a theoretical framework for elucidating developmental issues of young children presenting with marked autistic features where a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder is eventually rejected after intervention. Where others have implicated the role of trauma in the child in some cases of autism, this study highlights the potential contribution of traumatic features in the parents’ backgrounds aberrant development and the... more
This paper engages in debates about the nature of autistic spectrum disorder with a theoretical model the ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism, put forward by Simon Baron-Cohen. In doing so it aims to clarify what is distinctive about the child psychotherapy approach to ASD. After outlining the Baron-Cohen approach and appreciating the evidence involved, the paper raises three issues, and recasts his interpretation of the evidence in terms... more
