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Keith was abandoned at birth by a mother who herself had been abandoned. Little is known about his infancy, the first 16 months of which were spent in a residential nursery, except that he was said to have screamed incessantly. He was fostered for a year with a couple who had three children of their own, but as it became increasingly evident that Keith was half coloured, the father of the family rejected him. Keith lived in a Children's Home until a second attempt was made to foster him when he was four years’ old, but this broke down only five months later due, it was said, to the bitter jealousy of other children in the foster home. So Keith returned to the Children's Home and began school just one month later.
Not surprisingly, the headmistress of his infant school found him “anti-social and generally destructive, unable to make contact with children or adults, frustrated by the slightest set-back, and usually alone”. Keith was referred to the Tavistock at this time, but psychotherapy was not recommended. Rather it was felt that support should be given to the people who were trying to care for him at home and school. They were patient and dedicated in their efforts to help him. Miss A., his new house mother, who has remained a constant figure in his life, tried to accept his babyish behaviour and carried him everywhere for months. But she was frightened and disturbed when she found that Keith had set fire to a collection of cuddly toys he had loved. His teacher too was puzzled and worried by the relentless way in which Keith would suddenly destroy any small piece of work they had been able to do together. Despite daily personal attention from his class teacher and remedial teacher he was unable to begin to learn to read and remained in some profound sense untouchable.
When he could be controlled at school no longer he was referred again to the Tavistock. The school had struggled on with him for three years — a testimony, no doubt, to the good will and compassion of