Theoretical work of clinical approaches to autism often concentrates on archaic aspects of the psyche. Nonetheless, theory about the archaic goes beyond what exists about autism. This article sets out to develop a more transversal approach about difficulties existing in autistic subjects, applying psychoanalytical concepts used outside the theoretical domain of autism.
The authors will first use the idea of the agglutinated object from J. Bleger theory's relating to psychotic subjects. Then, the authors will explore the idea of sensitive-perceptive-motor memory trace borrowed from R. Roussillon's theoretical work, elaborated from treatment of psychotic and borderline patients.
Linking both two concepts enables us to understand how non-subjectively integrated memory traces, as they exist within an autistic subject’s psyche, can be stabilized by an agglutinated object in order to restrict the unsettling effect of the profoundly unconscious trace.
Authors will use one of their own case studies. This excerpt from early therapeutic work with a teenager with autism spectrum disorder will be used to illustrate the theoretical basis.
Finally, the authors will look at specific aspects of autistic subjects' psychic functioning using these theories before raising the question of how autistic functioning allows us to grasp the psychic archaic process.