ABSTRACT
Autistic defences become hypertrophic and rigid, determining more or less extensive forms of pathological autism. Autistic vestiges may also remain in neurotic subjects. The term "autistic capsules" refers to the presence of vestiges of primitive experience that remain buried in the psychic organization of children or adults, neurotic or borderline, or of patients presenting psychosomatic symptoms. Autistic capsules seem to preserve sensory, non-conceptualized primitive experiences and represent a pre-symbolic condition, not the more severe a-symbolic condition of infantile autism. Psychoanalytic research has moved not only in the direction of observing the autistic child's behaviour but also in monitoring the mental states of the observer in relation to the child's mimic or motor reactions, in the attempt to discover the emotional links between the child and the outside world. The chapter also presents an overview an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
