Early interaction,communication and the origins of autism: far-reaching insights by Ángel Rivière ( Interacción temprana,comunicación y los orígenes del autismo: la visión con largo alcance de Ángel Rivière )

Abstract

In this paper we revisit some ideas of the early work by Ángel Rivière that not only marked his later research but anticipated an approach that, in essence, is still valid and reflects current advances in our understanding of autism as a developmental condition primarily affecting social interaction and communication. More specifically we focus on how: (1) his insights on the possible alteration of early interaction programmes of infant/adult communication both determined his own later research and preceded evidence impossible to obtain at the time; (2) his view on the early symbolization at the end of infancy shaped an incipient approach that identified a key semiotic dimension for the diagnosis and intervention in autism; (3) his early constructivist model integrated the best of Piagetian and Vygostkian constructivisms and is still compatible with modern neuroconstructivism, balancing the input of ‘nature and nurture’ in the study of communication and its neurodevelopmental disorders.