You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Marian C. Putnam, M.D. and Beata Rank, Co-Directors.
Eleanor Pavenstedt, M.D. (Boston): Research in Atypical Development in Young Children.
Eveoleen Rexford, M.D. (Boston) (by invitation): Case Presentation.
Beata Rank (Boston): Theoretical Consideration and Basic Concepts.
CHAIRMAN OF THE PANEL: Marianne Kris, M. D. (New York).
REPORTER: George E. Gardner, M.D.
Using as its nucleus a case from the Children's Center, this panel devoted itself to a discussion of the theoretical and therapeutic problems presented by psychotic-like children. According to Dr. Eleanor Pavenstedt, the research program at this clinic has aimed since 1944 at an investigation of the earliest development of personality and the treatment of its disorders through psychotherapy of mother and child as a dynamic unit.
Anne G., the child under discussion, described by Dr. Eveoleen Rexford, showed at four a picture of pseudo-retardation, bizarre and autistic behavior, and disturbance in her language function. For a month before admission, pending the arrival of a new sibling, she had clung to her mother, demanded that the latter dress and undress her, and had lost interest in her favorite phonograph records.
At the clinic Anne showed a remarkable emotional detachment, together with severe anxiety about new situations. She confused individuals with each other and showed no more reaction to animate than to inanimate objects. Her play was monotonously repetitive and her speech peculiar in that she used “you” for “I” and “I” for “you” while her conversation was difficult to understand without questioning the parents as to the source of allusions. Described as having a remarkable