Dibs in Search of Self

The next week, Dibs has the measles, but the following Thursday Dibs recovers enough to have his eighth session. When he arrives, he tells Axline that he liked the get-well card and the flowers she sent him. He says that his father told him the flowers could grow into bushes. Axline is interested in his father showing more engagement with Dibs, and she asks what Dibs said when his father talked to him. Dibs says that he just listened.

Dibs then asks himself what he wants to do. He replies that he’s not in a hurry, and that he’ll just “be.” He lies down in the sand and pulls out a soldier that another child buried there, then he starts singing the muffin man song, but he replaces the words so that he sings, “Did you know the nothing man? He lives in a dreary grave.” Dibs says that he doesn’t talk to his father much, but he doesn’t know why.

Axline wonders if Dibs’s behavior has changed at all in school—his teachers have not reached out to her at all. Meanwhile, Dibs continues to play in the sandbox until he suddenly opens the playroom door and takes the sign from the door. He points to the sign and asks what therapy is, a question that surprises Axline. Axline says that it means a chance to come play and talk in any way Dibs wants to—a time when he can be himself. Dibs worries about hearing someone coming down the hall, and he asks if the room is just for him, and Axline says it’s just for him at this time every week if he wants it that way. Dibs says it’s for him and for Axline as well, and he replaces the sign.

Dibs then tells Axline that he was sad when he had measles because he couldn’t read books. Axline asks what he likes to read, and Dibs says that he has books about everything but that he likes science books best. He repeats that he really liked Axline’s card, which his mother let him keep next to his bed. Axline wonders how Dibs learned to read, write, and draw—according to existing learning theories, he should not have been able to obtain these skills without getting instruction and mastering verbal language first.

Dibs hears the church bells ring and Axline says he has fifteen minutes left in his session. Dibs is very happy, and he exclaims about the beautiful day. He then rearranges the paints and sings about making a farm and building a fence. He puts the animal figures behind the fence and tells the cow to “straighten up” and not to “act like such a stupid idiot.”

Dibs hears the bells ring again, and Axline says it’s time for Dibs to go. Dibs tries to pretend that it’s one o’clock and that he doesn’t have to go, but he gradually relents and agrees that he has to leave. He smiles at Axline and says goodbye, putting on his hat and coat. Axline observes that Dibs seems more at ease with his mother and even his father now. She wonders if they’re changing their behavior towards Dibs, or if Dibs is simply relating to them more.