Abstract
Hannah Alonim and Allan Schore comment on my article “The Protest of a Six Month Old Girl: Is This a Prodrome of Autism?,” an account of the infant-parent psychotherapy of a baby with attachment problems and possibly autistic defenses. In response, I address the points of convergence and divergence between the commentators and myself: the distinction between attachment disorders and autism, the contribution of the concept of “containment,” and the timeline for the differentiation of self from other. I also reflect on Schore’s and Alonim’s contributions to the cultural landscape of autism research and treatment.
This commentary is a response to the two commentaries on her article, “The Protest of a 6-Month-Old Girl: Is This a Prodrome of Autism?”, all of which appeared in issue 12(3) of the Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy. The commentaries are titled “Commentary on ‘The Protest of a 6-Month-Old Girl: Is This a Prodrome of Autism?’” by Hanna A. Alonim and “Regulation Theory and Early Assessment of Attachment and Autistic Spectrum Disorders: A Response to Voran’s Clinical Case” by Allan N. Schore.
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Miriam Voran
Miriam Voran has a psychoanalytic practice in West Lebanon, NH and Montpelier, VT, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH.