The Imaginary companion and the Paracosms in typical and atypical development: A case study [Le compagnon imaginaire et les paracosmes dans le développement typique et atypique à partir d'un cas clinique]

The authors describe the case of a child who was examined when he was 9 years 2 months, after having received a diagnosis of Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) when he was 4 years 10 months. The authors focus on the child's solitary and imagination activities, particularly his imaginary companion and his paracosms, within a general profile of his cognitive, linguistic and social cognition abilities. The child's profile was established partly by using standardized tests assessing intellectual, linguistic and social cognition abilities, and partly by using a semi-structured interview focused on the child's representations of his friend relationships. The results at the tests were analyzed in relation with the age norms for typical development, whereas the child's representations of friend relationships were analyzed in qualitative terms. The child showed brilliant general cognitive capabilities, adult-like language abilities and sophisticated intellectual concerns. However, some social cognition subtests and the semi-structured interview highlighted relevant difficulties in reading mental states. His solitary behaviors were overdeveloped and his imagination activities showed atypical characteristics. The present case study analyzes the distinctive features of these activities in quantitative, qualitative and functional terms, stressing the metacognitive and the emotional dimension inherent to the child's imaginative representations.