The Autistic State of Mind
· Unconceptualised Protective Practices
‘tactile hallucinations’ = protect from terror of ‘not-being’,
but obstruct mental development
o Autistic (Sensation) Objects
§ usually hard
§ make the child feel strong and impenetrable, as if part
of his own body
e.g. clutching bunch of keys, toy-car, train,
biting hard edges of photos, books, toy
o Autistic (Sensation) Shapes
§ tactile activities to produce whorls of comforting
sensations (like tranquilisers)
§ to produce sense of ongoingness to avoid a painful
awareness of separateness e.g. stroking, usually on
smooth surfaces/skin, - rocking, flapping, spinning, -
water
· Bodily Terrors
no concept of growth, healing or learning, but of parts coming off or being added on
o Fears of Damage to their Body
§ fears bodily damage: holes to his 'shell', parts of his
body coming off, leaking out e.g. fear of: ketchup/red,
washing hands/hair, own/others' 'biting' teeth, taking off
shoes
o Their Mouth feels Broken
§ something experienced as part of their mouth is felt as
having been wrenched away e.g. child has 'a thing about h.
mouth/ teeth/ tongue'; spitting; constant (vibrating) noises;
pre-occupation with tongue/ teeth/ saliva/ mouth cavity, not
talking; mutism
· Dismantling
o letting mind fall apart + rendering senses/ feelings into
unconnected bits of sensation
o anti-symbolic/ anti-meaning: can be passive process or more
active deliberate e.g. watching moving patterns of clouds/ tree, no
response to noises/ pain, 'funny looking'
· Touch used for Turning away from People
o touch has magical significance, as if it can make them exist or be
'gone’, but
o their own manipulative touching activities block development of
abstract processes e.g. lining things up, rhythmic movements,
clinging, masturbating, sucking fingers/ tongue
· Autistic Obstructions to Symbol Formation
symbol formation requires some sense of bodily separateness and the ability to use
one’s mind to deal with the experience of loss, frustration and need
e.g. not being able to play or draw symbolically, no understanding of story-line
o Dismantled Perception
§ hearing/ seeing (long-distance modes of perception)
don’t have normal importance
§ attention is riveted on tactile sensations, instead of
making sense of sights/sounds e.g. 'tuning out',
listening to distant noises, 'far-away-eyes', 'funny
looking'
o Dismantling of Concept Formation
§ non-shared auto-generated sensations are more
important than objective function e.g. any hard
object will do, flapping anything (ribbon, books, doll
by its hair...) echolalia
Email: info@reachingautism.org
· Unconceptualised Protective Practices
‘tactile hallucinations’ = protect from terror of ‘not-being’,
but obstruct mental development
o Autistic (Sensation) Objects
§ usually hard
§ make the child feel strong and impenetrable, as if part
of his own body
e.g. clutching bunch of keys, toy-car, train,
biting hard edges of photos, books, toy
o Autistic (Sensation) Shapes
§ tactile activities to produce whorls of comforting
sensations (like tranquilisers)
§ to produce sense of ongoingness to avoid a painful
awareness of separateness e.g. stroking, usually on
smooth surfaces/skin, - rocking, flapping, spinning, -
water
· Bodily Terrors
no concept of growth, healing or learning, but of parts coming off or being added on
o Fears of Damage to their Body
§ fears bodily damage: holes to his 'shell', parts of his
body coming off, leaking out e.g. fear of: ketchup/red,
washing hands/hair, own/others' 'biting' teeth, taking off
shoes
o Their Mouth feels Broken
§ something experienced as part of their mouth is felt as
having been wrenched away e.g. child has 'a thing about h.
mouth/ teeth/ tongue'; spitting; constant (vibrating) noises;
pre-occupation with tongue/ teeth/ saliva/ mouth cavity, not
talking; mutism
· Dismantling
o letting mind fall apart + rendering senses/ feelings into
unconnected bits of sensation
o anti-symbolic/ anti-meaning: can be passive process or more
active deliberate e.g. watching moving patterns of clouds/ tree, no
response to noises/ pain, 'funny looking'
· Touch used for Turning away from People
o touch has magical significance, as if it can make them exist or be
'gone’, but
o their own manipulative touching activities block development of
abstract processes e.g. lining things up, rhythmic movements,
clinging, masturbating, sucking fingers/ tongue
· Autistic Obstructions to Symbol Formation
symbol formation requires some sense of bodily separateness and the ability to use
one’s mind to deal with the experience of loss, frustration and need
e.g. not being able to play or draw symbolically, no understanding of story-line
o Dismantled Perception
§ hearing/ seeing (long-distance modes of perception)
don’t have normal importance
§ attention is riveted on tactile sensations, instead of
making sense of sights/sounds e.g. 'tuning out',
listening to distant noises, 'far-away-eyes', 'funny
looking'
o Dismantling of Concept Formation
§ non-shared auto-generated sensations are more
important than objective function e.g. any hard
object will do, flapping anything (ribbon, books, doll
by its hair...) echolalia
Email: info@reachingautism.org
Some of the processes that underlie the external features of autism can be explained with insights from modern Attachment Theory and Psychoanalytic Constructionism (e.g. Bion and autism-specialists Tustin, Meltzer, Alvarez, Spensley, Scabbiolo etc.)
