In this article we take up the proposition that music, in its rhythmic dimension, uniquely enables the production and circulation of signifiers in the utterances of children diagnosed with autism. We have studied video recorded sessions with an autistic boy with his therapist. From this study we more closely investigated several episodes that exemplify rhythmic manifestations by the boy. These events lead to the hypothesis that discontinuities in his rhythm constitute an initial and primitive means of unique inscriptions of the signifier on the boy's body.
Autism; music; melody; rhythm; signifier; uniqueness