MAKING MEANING THROUGH PLAY: A PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION IN A PRESCHOOL CHILD WITH GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY

Abstract

The prevalence of global developmental delay is estimated to be 1–3 percent of children under 5 years of age. The child psychiatric and psychoanalytic literature, however, is very limited regarding effective treatment modalities for preschool-aged children with severe and/or multiple developmental delays, and care today for these severely affected children often is highly fragmented. A child with attentional difficulties, speech and language deficits, sensory sensitivity and motor/coordination problems, enuresis/encopresis, and/or learning disabilities might have one or more meetings a week with a speech therapist, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a behavioral therapist, a tutor or educational therapist, and perhaps even a child psychiatrist.