# Book ID-- Therapist plays with little boy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235 "2019-10-04T01:27:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/1 "2019-10-04T01:27:22Z")
It was a non-fiction about a ‘disturbed’ boy. I remember reading it as a teenager and thinking the boy wasn’t disturbed or, perhaps I was too young to understand the emotionally disturbed. The boy’s name was not Dobby because that’s the Harry Potter elf, but I want to call him that. Bobby? As mentioned, I was a teenager when I read it so it has to be at least 35 years old. The book was descriptions of sessions the psychiatrist had with the young boy and the one thing that stuck in my mind was how, the first thing he would do every session was arrange the paints into the color spectrum. In a discussion I was having about the movie Charly recently, this book came out of the depth of my memory and I thought, hey, that kid _wasn’t_ crazy, he was autistic. No one in the conversation knew what 30 year old, half remembered book I was going on about. Then I thought, if anyplace would know what I am going on about, it would be here. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/2 "2019-10-04T01:48:40Z")
Was it _[Dibs: In Search of Self?](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345339258/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345339258&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2)_ I read that years ago - it might have been in my mom’s Reader’s Digest condensed editions. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/3 "2019-10-04T01:55:19Z")
Twenty minutes! I knew this was the place to come to, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/4 "2019-10-04T12:14:57Z")
If you enjoyed _Dibs: In Search of Self_ you might also like the books written by Torey Hayden based on her real-life experiences in the 1970s and early 80s with teaching and counseling children with special needs. I especially recommend _One Child_ and _Murphy’s Boy_. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torey\_Hayden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torey_Hayden) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/5 "2019-10-04T20:19:54Z")
I remember this book from having to read it in my high school’s psychology class. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/6 "2019-10-05T03:24:24Z")
I remember the Reader’s Digest condensed version; I was 9 or 10 when I read it and a lot of it went over my head, but just looking at the thread title and first line brought it back to me. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-id-therapist-plays-with-little-boy/841235/7 "2019-10-05T16:11:12Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > If you enjoyed _Dibs: In Search of Self_ you might also like the books written by Torey Hayden based on her real-life experiences in the 1970s and early 80s with teaching and counseling children with special needs. I especially recommend _One Child_ and _Murphy’s Boy_. > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torey\_Hayden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torey_Hayden) Another similar author is [Mary MacCracken](https://www.amazon.com/Mary-MacCracken/e/B001HCYRPO/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1)