Chapter 1 Introduction 1: Intersubjectivity Chapter 2 Introduction 2: Intersubjectivity and the Atypical Child Part 3 The Diary Chapter 4 Diary Preface Chapter 5 The Diary Part 6 Theory and Practice Chapter 7 Triple Your Pleasure Chapter 8 Development of Self Chapter 9 Intersubjectivity Chapter 10 "Theory of Mind" Chapter 11 Increments and Leaps Chapter 12 Interventions: Fostering the Emergence of Self and Intersubjectivity in the Atypical Child Chapter 13 Parent-Child Interaction with Children with Disorders Affecting Self and Self-Other Relationships Chapter 14 Help Him Make You Smile Part 15 Years Later Chapter 16 Introduction to Part III: Same But Different Chapter 17 Benjamin Today Chapter 18 Benjaminisms
Rita Eagle, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologis with 45 years of experience. Currently she is doing clinical work and training with a focus on autism and mental retardation at the Harbor Regional Center in California. She has three adult children, including Benjamin, the inspiration of this book, now 36 years old, who has mental retardation and features of an autistic spectrum disorder. Dr. Eagle taught at City College and Brooklyn College in New York and supervised clinicians and doctoral candidates.
The book is fascinating... It is an interesting and readable tale
of the growth of a severely, perhaps autistic, neurologically
impaired child... The book has value for the professional and for
parent?caretakers of these children in its suggestions for
interventions and for providing a view of a possible, optimistic,
although limited outcome. Eagle's message is a positive one that is
appropriately captured in the title of the book: Help Him Make You
Smile.
*PsycCRITIQUES*
As a clinical psychologist who has worked with children with autism
and has knowledge of the academic literature in relevant domains of
psychology, as well as a parent drawing on experience of intimate
involvement with Benjamin, Rita Eagle is well qualified to
integrate detailed and personal descriptions of her son's
development with reflections upon the sources of his difficulties,
and more specifically of the handicaps to and progress in his
development. From this perspective, she provides an
accessiblecritical review of psychological theories of autism, as
well as an informed evaluation of therapeutic interventions-with
novel suggestions from her own experience. The book is an
impressive achievement. The author is balanced and generous in her
citations of the works of others, and at the same time has an
individual voice and an engaging skepticism concerning theoretical
accounts (including her own) that seek to encompass qualities of
atypical development manifest in the behavior and experience of her
own child and in others with developmental disorders. Her account
is thoughtful, insightful, original, challenging and fresh; even
when considering views somewhat at odds with her own, she attempts
to share what is positive and enlightening. In summary,
*Peter Hobson, Tavistock professor of Developmental
Psychopathology, University of London*
Dr. Eagle's account of her son Benjamin's development from birth to
a happy, satisfied adulthood is one of the few books that combine
the insights of a parent with the disciplined observations and
conclusions of a qualified professional. Her story is not one of
cure, miraculous or otherwise, but of another kind of triumph—of
active love and persistence. It should help many families and
enlighten many professionals.
*Clara Claiborne Park, author, The Siege: A Family's Journey into
the World of an Autistic Child and Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter's
Life with Autism*
Dr. Eagle has provided a masterful and unique contribution to our
awareness and understanding of the emergence of self and
intersubjectivity. The distillation of her observations and
experiences as the mother of an atypical child, developmental
psychologist and psychotherapist working with children and young
adults with special needs over several decades, has resulted in a
framework of understanding that provides greater clarity in a
conceptually difficult area. Her insights have implications for
early intervention in supporting atypically developing children as
well as for the psychological support and prevention of emotional
disturbances in adults with special needs. I will be recommending
this book highly, as core reading, to my students and colleagues
working with persons with developmental and learning disabilities
across the life span.
*Elspeth Bradley, Ph.D., M.D., associate professor, University of
Toronto; psychiatrist-in-chief, Surrey Place Center, Toronto*
This is an amazing account, both for its perceptiveness and honesty
and for the descriptions of Benjamin's development and his mother's
disclosure of her own experiences, feelings and reflections.
*Inge Bretherton, Ph.D., professor emerita, Department of Human
Development and Family Studies, University of
Wisconsin-Madison*
This is an extraordinary book, on so many levels. The story that it
tells of a boy born with developmental disabilities is gripping,
moving, at times amusing and at times painfully poignant. But most
of all, the story of Benjamin's development is deeply inspiring. It
is also the story of a parent who comes, not just to cherish her
son, but to grow in so many ways as a result of having Benjamin in
her life. Finally, it is the work of an exceptionally talented
developmental psychologist who is constantly struggling with her
field as she seeks to understand and help both her son and her
science. One comes away with a deeper appreciation of the richness
and the limitations of our current theories about the nature and
importance of intersubjectivity. This is a book that is destined to
become a classic, read and re-read by everyone who is interested in
how a mind develops.
*Stuart Shanker, D.Phil., president, Council of Early Child
Development*
As a clinical psychologist who has worked with children with autism
and has knowledge of the academic literature in relevant domains of
psychology, as well as a parent drawing on experience of intimate
involvement with Benjamin, Rita Eagle is well qualified to
integrate detailed and personal descriptions of her son's
development with reflections upon the sources of his difficulties,
and more specifically of the handicaps to and progress in his
development. From this perspective, she provides an accessible
critical review of psychological theories of autism, as well as an
informed evaluation of therapeutic interventions-with novel
suggestions from her own experience.
The book is an impressive achievement. The author is balanced and
generous in her citations of the works of others, and at the same
time has an individual voice and an engaging skepticism concerning
theoretical accounts (including her own) that seek to encompass
qualities of atypical development manifest in the behavior and
experience of her own child and in others with developmental
disorders. Her account is thoughtful, insightful, original,
challenging and fresh; even when considering views somewhat at odds
with her own, she attempts to share what is positive and
enlightening. In summary, this amounts to a special blend of
personal and scientific perspectives that helps us to appreciate
the interpersonal dimensions of typical as well as atypical
development, cognitive as well as social.
*Peter Hobson, Tavistock professor of Developmental
Psychopathology, University of London*
Rita Eagle has splendid qualifications to write about the subtle
and varied growth of intersubjectivity. A student of psychology
early interested in autism, guided in professional training as a
clinical psychologist by Margaret Mahler and Fred Pine, she has
been a clinical practitioner and researcher in care for children
with autism, and a devoted mother of three. She shares the
discovery of demanding but rich and rewarding companionship with a
son who needed special sensitivity on her part, to enable them to
"connect" emotionally, by helping him "to make her smile". This
beautifully written book has much to teach all of us who try to
make a scientific account of the growth of a child's mind, or who
claim to have advice for the care of any child whose own
person-ness and need for others is not easily explained or
diagnosed. Its Benjaminisms reveal hidden gifts.
*Colwyn Trevarthen, Ph.D., Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh;
professor (emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology, The
University of Edinburgh*
The book is fascinating... It is an interesting and readable tale
of the growth of a severely, perhaps autistic, neurologically
impaired child... The book has value for the professional and for
parent–caretakers of these children in its suggestions for
interventions and for providing a view of a possible, optimistic,
although limited outcome. Eagle's message is a positive one that is
appropriately captured in the title of the book: Help Him Make You
Smile.
*PsycCRITIQUES*
Rarely does a book come fom a very exceptional clinician that has
such an eloquent blend of personal observation and clinical and
scholarly depth....Surely every patient or professional reading
this book will find much in their own experience to add—and much to
admire in Dr. Eagle's honest, moving volume.
*Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, January 2009*
This book is about applying theory to the child you'd meet in your
office: the child who is not a textbook case, not only of
typicality but also of atypicality. Dr. Eagle has brought to this
book a rare perspective. Her description of her struggles, despite
being an experienced parent and expert in precisely this field,
with parenting a child who 'makes you float away in your thoughts
when you're with him, just float away and withdraw' can be helpful
and supportive to parents who are trying to articulate what they
recognize as a difference in their child, and to do the best for
their child. This book will appeal mainly to child psychiatrists,
child psychologists, and developmental pediatricians.
*Jrl Of The Canadian Academy Of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, May
2009*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |