autistic children are an exception; they remain distressed when an exogenous entity does something that demonstrates vitality of its own, and they are especially intolerant of social contingency, or the unpredictability of another’s perspective or intentions. Preferring sameness, repetition, rhythm, and routine, they retreat into circular, self-generated perfect contingencies such as rocking or swinging, or object-based interactions that allow close-to-perfect stimulus-response [circuits] such as bouncing a ball or pressing a button.5
