A reading of stereotypy in autism through the concept of iteration

Stereotypies currently occupy an important place in the clinical profile of <i>autism spectrum disorder</i> (ASD). Since they are usually described with the notions of <i>sameness</i>, <i>resistance to change,</i> or <i>lack of variation</i>, it would seem as if <i>everything</i> were repeated, and <i>nothing</i> could change. In this context, the following question arises: What is it that is repeated in stereotypical repetition? To answer this question, one must turn to clinical vignettes of patients diagnosed with ASD and to the concept of <i>iteration</i> stemming from two different epistemic fields (psychiatry and fractal geometry). Firstly, it is suggested that what is repeated in stereotypies, in particular, is the <i>initial figure</i>, since the elements that are unconnected to it change or may change. Secondly, specifically in the context of autism, it is suggested that what is repeated in a stereotypy is <i>the very fact of repeating</i>.