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Amid long-standing controversy on their causes, which most regard as neurological, and despite their increasing social impact, there has been scant progress in the therapy of the autistic spectrum disorders. Currently fashionable attempts at treatment through behavioural-cognitive focal approaches do not seek resolution, only re-education and rehabilitation. Contacting the Autistic Child explores the clinical process in the early psychoanalytic treatment of autistic children. Organised around five detailed clinical case studies, and drawing on the ideas of major clinicians in child analysis such as Tustin, Winnicott and Alvarez, this book sets out a clear programme for working with and understanding autistic children in a psychoanalytic setting, with a particular focus on issues of clinical technique but also conceptual matters.

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