‘Here I am!’: Self and Object in a Developmentally Delayed Boy with Autistic Features

Anthony began intensive psychotherapy at the age of three. Concerns both of his parents and professionals centred on his marked language delay, which, combined with poor social interaction, had given rise to worries about autism. This account of his therapy focuses on the emergence of language and on what this reveals about his growing sense of self and his capacity for object relatedness.1