‘A psychoanalytic approach to language delay: when ‘autistic’ isn’t necessarily autism’

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 therapeutic implications that follow from this. The paper has been influential in raising awareness of the significance of understanding and working with family background issues in the early diagnosis and assessment of query autistic children, and of how they can be worked with effectively in the context of assessment.

CU described this work for event in Oslo as follows:

This is partly a clinical paper and partly a theoretical paper. Although it is an intervention in the Child Psychotherapy field, I hope the group will find it interesting and accessible. It illustrates my longstanding interests in emotional and social processes involved in language acquisition and in bridge building between psychoanalysis and developmental psychology.