“I need my scripts”: A boy with Asperger’s syndrome entering adolescence

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the treatment of Jonathan, a pubertal boy with a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. He had psychoanalytic psychotherapy for nearly three years, three times weekly, during the course which his behaviour changed markedly. His complex treatment and clinical history included a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome by a child psychiatrist. Jonathan suffered from sub-clinical epileptic discharge at night, which interfered with restful sleep and was controlled with medication. Jonathan was changing school, entering puberty, and, with the progress he was making, his old strategies for avoiding anxiety were working less well. The chapter discusses three main themes from Jonathan's therapy. These are his stickiness and difficulty in negotiating time and space in a realistic way; the nature of his learning difficulties; and, a number of developmental issues linked with the onset of adolescence. Jonathan had some learning difficulties, but he maintained his position in mainstream school, with partial attendance at an on-site unit.