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IF THE PRIMARY ROLE OF ANALYSTS IS VIEWED AS "THE BRINGERS of understanding and the bearers of choice" (Greenson, 1958), it is possible to conceive that the analyst can fulfill these functions in the treatment of an atypical deaf boy. But it is also necessary to accept that variations and modifications in technique must arise, though these should not conflict with the ultimate goal of providing insight to the patient, so that he himself can resolve his neurotic conflicts, thus effecting permanant changes in ego, id, and superego, and thereby extending the sovereignty of his ego.
A person whose personality has been distorted by early deprivations and who, in addition, has a severe physical handicap presents a challenge to any form of treatment which aims to achieve permanent changes in the individual. The challenge is indeed magnified when psychoanalytic treatment, which essentially relies on verbalization, is undertaken with a deaf and almost dumb boy. Anna Freud has questioned by what means such a child can be