Abstract
Consideration is given to the hypothesis provided by Trevarthen and Delafield-Butt (2013) – that disruption of social synchrony in autism is rooted in disturbance of prospective motor control for expressive action and active perception of other's expression: crucially, autism is a disturbance of “sensorimotor intentionality” (Delafield-Butt & Gangopadhyay, 2013). The feedforward qualities of communicative musicality (Malloch & Trevarthen, 2009) – the temporal motivation and organisation inherent in pulse and vitality – are taken as foundational for a series of therapeutic principles developed here. The aim: to support disrupted prosocial “intentional movements” by overlaying, integrating, and piggy-backing on intact rhythm and vitality imported, in the moment, from cross-modality experiences – to imbue a child’s actions with forward looking organisation and impulse to interact. These principles are illustrated in the form of mini case studies, taken from real play therapy sessions. Certain key concepts are introduced, including: the use of rhythm as compelling structure, the 'jazz gap' as temporal catalyst, the calming and engaging effect of inter- synchrony, and the vitality-matching of a child's emotive and motoric patterns.
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