ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the clinical process in the early psychoanalytic treatment of autistic children. It explains a case study of Axel a two year old artistic child. He was born of dedicated young parents working abroad, up in a mountain European village; they described his first year as "normal", responding well to stimuli. A sister was born, and the mother did not note anything unbecoming, but the next winter, at which time she felt "lonely in that frozen world", she noticed that Axel retracted, did not respond and avoided her gaze. She acknowledged having felt badly depressed when Axel's sister M. was born. After inconclusive consultations, they returned home, where both parents have extended families - a process that took months. The mother said Axel "has strange behaviours, different from his cousins; he is nearly mute, is always on the move, coming and going, his sister is already more mature than he is"; he was still in diapers.
