The Silent Child: Exploring the World of Children Who Do Not Speak

Language expert and psychologist, Laurent Danon-Boileau, has spent a lifetime trying to release silent children's ability to communicate. This book describes his treatment of six patients, all of whom were able to begin normal schooling after treatment: it is a landmark in the field. Children who speak late are a source of anxiety to parents and evoke conflicting responses from professionals. Professor Danon-Boileau argues that language disorders are too often considered from the perspective of either psychology or neurology and that the key to understanding lies in investigating the interactions of developmental, social, and neurobiological factors. The Silent Child allows the reader to meet the children as they are gently guided by the author towards communication, first without language, using toys and games, and then gradually to the ability to talk.

Table of Contents:
1: What Game Are We Playing? 2: Fabien: Thinking Without Words 3: Kim: Seeking One's Own Language 4: Rachid: Word and Gesture 5: Benjamin: Reality and Fiction 6: Pierre: Thinking With Broken Language 7: What is 'Quality' in Language? Conclusion Some Ideas from the Back of My Mind Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Laurent Danon-Boileau combines the role of Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Paris with professional language therapy. He is a psychoanalyst and associate member of the International Psychoanalytical Association. He works with children between four and seven years old who for a variety of reasons cannot or will not speak He aims to induce the birth of language in these children, at the same time using his observations to explore the nature of child language and communication. His background and education make him particularly attentive to two different dimensions of language that are often considered to be mutually exclusive: language as a psychic and poetic creation, and language as a word processing activity. He is also the developer of a new computer game, Play On, which is designed to assist dyslexic children.

Review :
Review from previous edition Laurent Danon-Boileau's investigation of young children with difficulties in learning to speak combines the highest quality of case writing with speculations that are remarkable in their penetration ... His observations are stunning, and his commentary on them is equally sharp ... You sense a real genius at work ... Never have I seen such a subtle and resounding plea for cultivating the child's own meaning-making capacity wihout imposing meaning on him or her Jerome Bruner In this intriguing little book, the author...explores the curious world of children who cannot speak. In so doing, he offers valuable advice on ways to search out answers from children by observing what they do. New York Times In this absorbing account of the treatment of children who have great difficulty communicating in spoken language, Danon-Boileau, a practising child psychologist, draws on the case studies of six of his own patients. These observations coming from a caring and humane therapist will be of great use to those working in the field...as well as to parents of children with speech problems. Publisher's Weekly