Case report: successful treatment of a case of extreme isolation.

Tom, aged 10, presented as a stiff, plump boy with a very awkward gait and a completely blank facial expression. He was terrified of other children and could allow no one closer than an arm's length away from him. It transpired that for most of his life he had been kept "safe" in his bare room by his parents whose firstborn child had died. After 8 years of treatment he is now studying at a university and although he lives at home he seems to have made some friends. His facial expressions and tone of voice are now appropriate.