«LIKE IN A SHELL» INTERAFFECTIVITY AND SOCIAL COGNITION IN ASPERGER’S SYNDROME

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that the real limitation of Asperger’s subjects lies in  ntercorporeality and interaffectivity, that is, in the pre-reflective, intersubjective engagement with others. I begin by first drawing on the work of the psychiatrist Georg Frankl, and I describe this engagement in terms of “affective language” and “affective contact”. In the second part of the paper I emphasize how Frankl’s account can be coherent with a phenomenological perspective on sociality. In closing I propose a therapeutic technique aimed at strengthening the intercorporeal, affective abilities of the subjects.