Félicie Affolter (22 February 1926 – 5 November 2024) was a Swiss psychologist, psychotherapist, speech therapist, and teacher of the deaf.

Early life and career

Félicie Affolter was born in St. Gallen on 22 February 1926. She studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

after training as a

speech therapist Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

(

), including under

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

. She received her doctorate in speech therapy from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1959 and then worked at the Pedaudiology. In 1976, she established a foundation there for the research and treatment of perceptual disorders (for example with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

) together with a Förderschule. She has taught at universities and clinical institutions in Europe and the USA.

Affolter model

During her many years of clinical work with children and adults with perceptual disorders, she developed her own developmental model and therapy concept, the ''Affolter Model'', also known as "Sensed Interaction Therapy". In this model, actions that cannot be performed by patients with perceptual problems are carried out together with the therapist. The basic idea was that sensory interaction in everyday life provides the infant with their first experiences of the world; if these could not be stored sufficiently or effectively, further disorders of

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

and

language acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language. In other words, it is how human beings gain the ability to be aware of language, to understand it, and to produce and use words and s ...

and other cognitive as well as social performance can result; therapy for these must therefore start again with sensory perception. This therapy enables patients to learn in a practical and everyday way. If perception is impaired, targeted guiding with the hands and body during everyday events can help to improve the search for information. Guiding means that another person performs actions with the patient's body in such a way that relationships are established between the patient and the environment. These guided interaction experiences promote

motor skills A motor skill is a function that involves specific movements of the body's muscles to perform a certain task. These tasks could include walking, running, or riding a bike. In order to perform this skill, the body's nervous system, muscles, and b ...

cognitive Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and

emotional Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

performance. Working according to Affolter is now one of the most important therapeutic approaches in working with patients with severe perceptual disorders. For the treatment of people with dementia, occupational therapist Gudrun Schaade has adapted the Affolter model to the needs of those affected and integrated it into the support concept she has developed.

Death

Affolter died on 5 November 2024, in Disentis/Muster, Switzerland at the age of 98.

Awards

In 2008, the ''Center for Cognitive Sciences'' at the University of Minnesota awarded Félicie Affolter the ''Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals'' for her life's work.

Publications (selection)

* ''Wahrnehmung, Wirklichkeit und Sprache'', Neckar-Verlag, Villingen-Schwenningen 2007 (10th unchanged edition; first edition 1987), ISBN 978-3-7883-0255-9 ** ''Perception, interaction and language. Interaction of daily living. The root of development'', Springer Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-51150-4 * ''Nichtsprachliches Lösen von Problemen in Alltagssituationen bei normalen Kindern und Kindern mit Sprachstörungen'' (= Wissenschaftliche Beiträge aus Forschung, Lehre und Praxis zur Rehabilitation von Menschen mit Behinderungen, Band 51), Neckar-Verlag, Villingen-Schwenningen 2007, ISBN 978-3-7883-0293-1 * with Walter Bischofberger: ''Gespürtes Wirken in der Wirklichkeit'', Neckar-Verlag, Villingen-Schwenningen 2013, ISBN 978-3-7883-1226-8

Literature

* Heike Ackermann: ''Das Konzept von Félicie Affolter und seine Bedeutung für die Geistigbehindertenpädagogik''. Edition SZH, Lucerne 2001, ISBN 3-908262-03-8 * Adrian Hofer, Walter Ehwald: ''The Affolter Model. Developmental model and sensed interaction therapy''. Pflaum, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7905-0977-9

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Affolter, Felicie 1926 births 2024 deaths Swiss women psychologists Swiss psychologists People from St. Gallen (city)