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The adaptational problems of the autistic child are reviewed in relation to the ontogenetic development of sensory receptors. In infancy there is a primacy of the near receptors, touch, taste, and pain, with a gradual shift over the years to visual and auditory or distance receptor prominence. The effect of near-receptor stimulation on infant development is discussed with reference to Berlyne's arousal theory in which strong and weak stimuli have an adverse affect, while moderate stimuli have an adaptational affect.
The author then reviews the well-known low arousal level of the autistic infant and suggests that there may be a dysfunction of the internal stimulation, that is, the reticular formation. Hebb has suggested that without this arousal system, sensory impulses only reach the sensory cortex and learning, memory, and response are lost.
It is hypothesized that there must be two necessary conditions for infantile autism to occur: 1, a constitutional defect in the neurophysiological arousal system; 2, a mother tending to understimulation. Implications for treatment are discussed.