ABSTRACT
An optimal program of psychotherapy for any individual is dependent on information obtainable from various sources which can be utilized in establishing a diagnosis and in determining a plan of treatment. Problems of diagnosis and treatment planning are complicated with emotionally disturbed children who are approximately five to eight years of age, in early period of latency. Successful treatment of emotional disorders in young children demands flexibility in application of treatment methods, a degree of empiricism, and facility in moving from one form of treatment to another if a change becomes indicated. The autistic child requires catalytic stimulation from children who are essentially ego intact, despite their problems, and who will not subject the autistic child to excessive threat or over-stimulation. In a mixed play group with a worker-team, therapeutic influences which promote normal sexual identification are found in: well defined sex identities and roles of workers the interaction between boy and girl the interaction between subgroups; male and female.
