The autistic mirror in the real: Autism in Lacan’s mirror stage

Abstract

The mirror stage is one of Jacques Lacan’s most well-received metapsychological models in the English-speaking world. In its many renditions Lacan elucidates the different forms of identification that lead to the construction of the Freudian ego. This article utilizes Lacan’s mirror stage to provide a novel perspective on autistic embodiment. It develops an integrative model that accounts for the progression of four distinct forms of autistic identification in the mirror stage; these forms provide the basis for the development of four different clinical trajectories in the treatment of autism. This model is posed as an alternative to the clinical and diagnostic framework associated with the autistic spectrum disorder.

The autistic pseudosignifier: Imaginary dialectization of signs in the clinic of autism

“…In previous publications, I have identified several modalities of the implementation of the sign in the clinic of autism for its protective, dynamic, and social gains (Brenner, 2020, pp. 259–261; 2021, 2022). If it is indeed the case that the dialectization of signs has substantial clinical effects, the work with iconic signs in the context of art therapy can be added to the list of the different modalities of the implementation of the sign in the clinic of autism.…”

Autistic disturbances in skin containment: The dermic drive as a psychoanalytic concept in the study of autism.

“…However, this boundary is experienced as belonging to an external object and, therefore, whenever the object is not directly sensed, the containment function is lost or diffused. Accordingly, on this level, the containment function remains precarious: as it is utterly dependent on the external object and repeatedly fades away when contact with the object is broken (Brenner, 2021, pp. 963, 964).…”

“…256, 257) 17 ; and (d) developing these up to a level where one’s place in society is crystalized, as Williams describes in her book (Williams, 1992, pp. 192–198; Brenner, 2021, pp. 966–968).…”