Building Ego Factors through the Curriculum

Abstract

Children in the Dubnoff School for Educational Therapy have problems ranging from neurological dysfunction and learning disabilities to mental retardation and overt psychoses. One common denominator for all of them, regardless of whether the insult to the organism is organic or psychogenic, is a deficiency in ego strength. This paper deals first with the psychological rationale operative throughout the Dubnoff School which is based on the work of ego psychologists, Erik Erikson in particular. Erikson's framework sets for us the task of a step-by-step development of ego identity. This has pointed our work in the direction of building ego strength through mastery. Multi-dimensional programs which have evolved over many years to help overcome ego deficiency are described.

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