Introduction

This section comprises the yield of a group of analysts studying developmental disorders in children. There are six contributions. One describes the clinical features of just such a child and the approaches used to overcome her many difficulties. A second presents an overview of the group process, the ways in which the participants struggled with concepts and sometimes with one another. A third paper outlines a point of view entirely different from the direction taken by most of the members of the study group; it proves to be of value on its own right and as a way of further clarifying some of the features described by other participants. Still another paper addresses in depth one of the major findings of the study group: the use of narrative building as a form of repair for such children. A fifth contribution reflects on future possible studies, natural outgrowths of the present one. Finally, the last of the papers summarizes the study group as a whole, paying particular attention to some informing theories of development while detailing observations and findings.

Each of the papers can be read individually or in a different sequence than the way they are presented. The intention of this section is to provide the reader with some of the excitement generated in a clinically based research study such as this. If this section were to provide a stimulus for further explorations into what is still unknown in our discipline, it will have served a major function.