Is Autism Monocausal?

A system-theoretic model of the workings of the brain obtained in a deductive-evolutionary context stands in the background. An intuitive description of the sudden transition of an autonomous optimizer with cognition into an “other-centered” mode of functioning is offered. This “bifurcation” is highly nontrivial. It presupposes a specific rewardability of the individual by the displayed joyfulness of the interaction partner. This is the case if the momentarily experienced reward on the one side, displayed, causes an even larger reward on the other side and vice versa. Secondly, the presence of mirror-competence in both individuals enables a positive feedback to occur across all possible rewards on either side. This type of cross coupling then leads to the occurrence of an event of “seeing with the eyes of the other.” The event can be called “personogenesis” because only persons can see in this fashion. This model entails the prediction that a functional “smile blindness” prevents personogenesis. It not only explains deep autism, but also enables a causal therapy: A deliberate “acoustic smile,” if expressed by the care-giving bonding partner whenever momentarily delighted in the interaction, predictably suffices. The proposed therapy is so simple that it can be offered by non-medical professionals and ordinary parents. The litmus test that the method works consists in the implied prediction that the same “personogenetic therapy” can be extended to other mirror-competent bonding animals