In August, 1937, Donald was placed in a tuberculosis preventorium in order
to provide for him "a change of environment." While there, he had a "disinclina-
tion to play with children and do things children his age usually take an interest
in." He gained weight but developed the habit of shaking his head from side
to side. He continued spinning objects and jumped up and down in eotasy as he
watched them spin.
He displayed an abstraction of mind which made him perfectly
oblivious to everything about him. He appears to be always thinking and thinking,
and to get his attention almost requires one to break down a mental barrier between
his inner consciousness and the outside world.
The father, whom Donald resembles physically, is a successful, meticulous,
hard-working lawyer who has had two "breakdowns" under strain of work.
He always took every ailment seriously,
taking to his bed and following doctors
orders punctiliously even for the slightest cold. "When he walks down the street,
he is so absorbed in thinking that he sees nothing and nobody and cannot remember
anything about the walk.” The mother,a college graduate, isa calm,capable woman,
to whom her husband feels vastly superior.
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