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 She also drew a fundamental distinction between two autistic groups: an ‘encapsulated’ group, which is withdrawn and non-verbal, and an ‘entangled’ group, who are hyperactive and chaotic but have some language.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. |
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... situations: for example, organic autism can be a reaction to brain damage or sensory defect, whereas psychogenic autism is the reaction to a delusory traumatic situation which seems to threaten life and limb. The latter is the type of ...
... situation may be released and expressed in psychosomatic manifestations such as boils or other skin eruptions. This can be an attempt to process and to come to terms with the traumatic experience(s). In short, the blocking of early ...
... situation as described by Melanie Klein, or as a pre-oedipal situation as described by classical Freudians. And now, with the help of a writer and an artist, let me evoke in 'picture language' the situations which precipitate the ...
Frances Tustin. and sense of deprivation. Birth in such a situation was unusually traumatic for both mother and baby and precipitated a panic-stricken 'clinch' which, if not modified by subsequent nurturing, would result in the ...
... situation of which such patients are unaware until when, and if, they begin to emerge from their protective autistic ... situations in later life are encountered. For example, unventilated, unprocessed explosive panic, rage and 'black ...
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 | |