[Stereotypy in infantile autism].

Using observations of the stereotyped productions in six cases of autism, the author has studied the different functions of the stereotypies. First of all the stereotypy is a containing envelope which protects by means of an archaic modality of motoric control, and filters exchanges with the exterior by the flexibility of its production. Moreover, the stereotypy is centered on selective sensations, bringing in to play body regions which are revealed in the first sensory experiences of the infant. This production of sensations is individualized by everyone in a particular and significant way of being in the world. Stereotypy, like an insatiable search for sensations never lost, never found, is the corporal pursuit of personal wholeness, always in question. Stereotypy, while curtailing the subject, can also be a generator because it is a personal anchor, an evocation of originating experience. It should in any case be understood as a possible mode of irreducible communication.