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as part of his body. The capacities that the newborn acquires at this stage, through the “sensation-objects”, come into play in the subsequent use of objects recognized as non-self. The acquisition of these capacities supports the child in the adaptations necessary to confront the external reality separate from the Self. Tustin then proposed a clinical classification of pathological autism based on the defense mechanisms that the child puts in place to protect himself from failures in the elaboration of separation of the Self from the non-Self. In ‘encapsulated’ children psychological development is blocked, the “bodily Self” maintains a split from sensations and the non-self is encapsulated in the self. Such children’ maintain a fusional condition through the splitting-off of their own sensations and through including the “non self” (sensations deriving from the other’s body, or the other’s gestures, actions, emotions etc) in their own Self. These children cling to hard objects that are a source of cold and metallic sensations; these sensations help the child to build a somato- psychic representation of the shell in which they are encapsulated. In ‘confused’ children, on the contrary, the Self is fragmented and confused with non- self and the psychological development is grossly disorganized. The non-Self is engulfed into the self and enclosed in it by means of exciting bodily sensations. In both encapsulated and confused children the central core consists in the attempt to maintain a fusional condition between the Self and the non Self. Overall, the encapsulated child effects a kind of splitting-off/ alienation from the sensations of his own body; the confusing/confused child is as if swallowed by his bodily sensations. According to Renata Gaddini (1977, 2004), the word ‘self’ is used within a maturational context based on a developmental theory. In this context, the ‘self’ is the outcome of the infant’s total bodily experience in the first months of life. These are sensations which, in the course of growing, are gradually elaborated in a process of mentalization. The longitudinal studies on the development of children have shown that in the process of growing the child goes from sensations to perceptions and feelings and symbols, and finally, to thoughts. The transitional object is the first observable step in early symbolization, a base for the development of secondary process thinking. On the basis of these longitudinal studies Gaddini has been able to show how the quality of the mother-infant interaction allows the development of the bodily self. The self, in fact, is the first organization of the individual just born, while he tries to adapt to the new homeostasis. The infant works at its formation in the very first months. In the organization of the self there is the contribution from the mother touching her baby, and, in so doing, delimiting the infant’s physical boundaries and from the innate contribution of the baby. The baby’s self originates through the converging of these two contributions. The wholeness of these peripheral sensations of skin-to-skin contact and of his body’s impact in space are what matters for the infant to build his sense of Self. The functioning of the body (the various organs’ function) is the language of the body; this body language, on its way to becoming mental (somehow), is the language of the self. Gaddini states that “Every time we refer to the self we find ourselves immediately dealing with a mental activity which in some way is related
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