The isolation syndrome in childhood.
A new diagnostic category--the Isolation Syndrome--is proposed to describe a pattern of abnormal behaviour in children. The child's 'isolated' state manifests itself in defective social interaction and communication between mother and child, in disorders of perceptual function and motor skills, in stereotyped behaviour and in general developmental retardation, especially in language. The typical situations in which the syndrome is likely to occur are discussed, and methods of treatment, both prophylactic and remedial, are given in detail. The purpose of identifying the Isolation Syndrome is to alert clinicians to the possibility that in some children with abnormal patterns of behaviour there is a specific and treatable difficulty in the child's environment.