Paper Session C

3. A disorder of the self in an adult with a nonverbal learning disability

Self Psychology Page | 21th Conference Program

Kohut stated that a disorder in which the deficit is clearly identified can be instructive in clarifying the function the missing element performs in healthy individuals. This construct, which appears to be borrowed from neurological research, is particularly applicable to the patient I will present who suffers from a nonverbal learning disability (NLD). NLD is a neurologically based disability that manifests itself in, among other things, an impairment in the capacity to communicate nonverbally. A deficit in the visual-spatial area interferes with the receptive, expressive and processing of nonverbal signs. In such patients, selfobject deficits invariably arise often leading to narcissistic personality disorders or more pathological personality formations. Studying the dynamics of these patients can can assist clinicians in examining the role that nonverbal communication plays in the clinical process; they can shed light on the effects neuropsychological deficits have on the development process, and among other things they can clarify the dynamics of a broader set of disorders of the self. In this paper I address the issue of the relationship between the impairment in nonverbal communication and the disorder of the self that emerged in my patient.

Self Psychology Page | 21th Conference Program