Abstract: | Children and adolescents often make up languages of their own and some belong to secret societies. This is a creative endeavor similar to the other expressive arts and may reveal a secret inner life in the child and a special gift expressed in forms of language. This is discussed as an issue in the childhood of several artists and in its implications for treatment.Ms Gerber is a Senior Caseworker, Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services and a Doctoral Candidate & Adjunct Lecturer at New York University School of Social Work and in private practice.This paper was presented in a somewhat different form for the International Conference on Fantasy in the Arts held in Beaumont, Texas, March 1985. |