Abstract

LASA ZULUETA, Alberto. Reflections and debates on autism. Rev. Asoc. Esp. Neuropsiq. [online]. 2021, vol.41, n.139, pp.229-265.  Epub Oct 04, 2021. ISSN 2340-2733.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/s0211-57352021000100014.

This article brings up some reflections on the place of autism in different psychiatric classifications and on some stances that intend to exclude it from them because it is considered stigmatizing. It points out some social and ideological tendencies that have an impact on psychiatry and influence in the creation, suppression, and modifications of its diagnoses, calling into question its legitimacy to impose them. It describes, from a psychodynamic and structural perspective, some aspects of clinical psychopathology and proposes an integrative understanding of the etiopathogeny of autism and the so-called “neurodevelopment”. It postulates the epistemological value of a psychodynamic psychopathology for a classification of autistic functioning that takes into consideration both its psychic structure and its clinical variants, as well as the usefulness to carry out psychotherapeutic interventions based on an understanding that must take place in a relational framework accepted by both the affected and their families.

It discusses the individual and exceptional characteristics of these kinds of treatments, the difficulties to assess them according to the current methodological demands, and the possibilities to reproduce them in a uniform and generalized way.

Keywords : autism; psychiatric classifications; social and ideological influences; psycho-dynamic psychopathology; therapeutic interventions vs. psychotherapy.

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