ABSTRACT
Withdrawn children are characterised by fundamental difficulties in their ability to communicate with others or a reluctance to use communication skills in social interaction. The distinction between these two types of condition is often much harder to make when assessing a noncommunicating child than would be expected at first sight. When speech is used qualitative aspects of the production such as the rate of production or the lack of intonation may suggest disordered language functioning. A healthy and secure attachment provides the child with the confidence to explore the environment and tolerate brief separations, whereas a high level of dependency inhibits exploratory behaviour and as a consequence reduces opportunities for learning. The overly dependent infant is perhaps showing early signs of withdrawn behaviour and an avoidance of social interactions. An insensitive approach to dependency weaning at whatever age is often a causal factor in precipitating withdrawn and uncommunicative behaviour.
