Dibs is the central figure of Dr. Virginia M. Axline’s memoir and the person through which she chooses to portray the value of her Humanistic Approach to Child Therapy. At age five, Dibs has disconnected from himself and the world. He displays abilities beyond his years, but refuses to indicate them to anyone. He doesn’t talk, look at people directly, or participate directly in class or with his family. Dibs seems to have two states of being—angry or withdrawn. His teachers and parents suspect he might have a developmental disorder, but his parents refuse to act on it. It is Dibs’s teachers, Miss Jane and Hedda, who implore psychologist Dr. Axline to observe him at the Child Guidance Center. It is through play therapy that Dibs starts to reveal who he truly is.

Dibs recognizes Dr. Axline and her spaces as safe, but still takes time to come to terms with himself. At first, he expresses fear and anger, playing with a dollhouse and locking it up, burying toy soldiers in sand, and sucking on a baby bottle. He eventually paints a color wheel by spelling out each color, and Dr. Axline is certain he has more skills to show.