Considerações sobre o diagnóstico precoce na clínica do autismo e das psicoses infantis

Abstract

This article is about an academic study based on Marie-Christine Laznik's theory. The purpose is to investigate, through the study of patient's files, the way infantile autism and psychosis were diagnosed in a mental health institution. The study also investigated the children's family histories before arriving at the institution. The results show that the treatment of autistic and psychotic children begins as a very late age. Health professionals and institutions fail to note the signs for early detection and take long periods to provide diagnoses and proposed adequate treatment procedures. In addition, most health professionals seem unprepared to deal with these psychopathologies. This study revealed measures that can be taken to allow treatment of autistic and psychotic children to begin earlier. © 2009 Associação Universitária de Pesquisa em Psicopatologia Fundamental.