Autistic States in ChildrenFrances Tustin (1913-1994) was one of the first professionally trained child psychotherapists in Britain. Although internationally recognised for her pioneering therapeutic work with autistic children, her approach is considered by some to be controversial, as her psychogenic view of childhood autism challenged the belief that it is biological and genetic. Autistic States in Children is widely regarded as a vitally important work for understanding the causes of autism in young children. Vividly describing her clinical encounters with autistic children, Tustin argued that autistic states were above all self-protective ones. In her observational studies, she noted how autistic children's interaction with physical objects, such as keys, toy cars, or other play items, had a rigid and ritualistic quality, far removed from the typical kind of fantasy play seen in other children. Such objects are not used by autistic children for their intended purpose, Tustin argued, but rather in sensation-dominated ways that interfere with mental development. She also drew a fundamental distinction between two autistic groups: an ‘encapsulated’ group, which is withdrawn and non-verbal, and an ‘entangled’ group, who are hyperactive and chaotic but have some language. Autistic States in Children influenced not only those in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis but countless others who have contact with autistic children, especially families, and remains essential reading for anyone seeking a creative and compelling understanding of autism. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Maria Rhode. |
From inside the book
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... Chapter 1; the editors of the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis for permission to use parts of my paper 'Revised Understanding of Psychogenic Autism' (Tustin, 1991) in Chapter 2; Mrs Shirley Hoxter for sending me Bernice Rubens's ...
... Chapter 19 of this book), something that has been confirmed by recent psychiatric research (Skuse et al. 2009). The fact that autistic phenomena are by no means confined to patients with autism makes her work relevant to clinicians who ...
... (Chapter 10 in this book) are hard sources of sensation that make the child feel strong; 'Autistic shapes', on the other hand, such as patterns made with the child's own breath or spit, are soothing and tranquillising. Tustin emphasised ...
... chapter on autistic objects (Chapter 10), and how they differ from transitional and confusional ones (Chapter 11); indeed, one of the important themes of the book is the difference between autistic encapsulation and confusional states ...
... chapter shows the sophisticated kind of exchange he came to be able to have with her, as well as the vivid ... chapters where Tustin's attention is completely focused on the child's unique experience so that familiar theory seems to ...
Contents
Autosensuous aspects of psychogenic childhood psychosis | |
Autogenerated encapsulation | |
Autistic objects | |
Confusional objects | |
The asymbolic nature of autosensuous states | |
Awareness in autistic states | |
Psychotherapy with autistic states in children | |
Transference phenomena in autistic states | |
16 | |
Thinkings | |
Confusional entanglement | |
Autosensuousness as a basis for classification of psychogenic childhood psychosis | |
Psychodynamics and treatment of autistic states | |
The pathological operation of autosensuousness | |
Psychological birth and psychological catastrophe | |
The struggles of an autistic child to develop a mind of his | |
Autistic elements in neurotic disorders of childhood | |
Concluding remarks | |
Index | |