Timothy Speed (2025)
This paper develops a theoretical framework for a non-representational form of autistic intelligence, referred to here as operatoric cognition. The term is introduced as a technical neologism and must not be conflated with Piaget’s operational or symbolic-logical pensée opératoire. In contrast to representational operations, “operatoric” designates dynamic-topological processes such as folding, indimergence, tension thresholds, and emergent form production — processes that function independently of semantic representation.
Beginning with a unique longitudinal corpus (2001–2025) consisting of eleven books, a feature film, and multiple research artefacts produced by a single autistic individual, the analysis reveals a stable pre-theoretical structural invariance of five operators across life phases and domains. This invariance suggests the presence of a stable cognitive architecture functioning at a subsymbolic level. The paper formulates this architecture as a testable hypothesis, distinguishes it from representational and narrative models, and proposes a validation programme involving blind coding, control groups, and machine-assisted structural analysis.
This paper functions as an interface text within a larger operator-based research corpus. Core concepts are applied here, not re-derived. The underlying research operates in a non-linear, rhythmically recursive epistemic mode grounded in an autistic form of structural perception; the present text provides an interface translation for academic contexts.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17897109
Keywords: autistic intelligence, operatoric cognition, structural invariance, non-representational theory, embodied epistemology, neurodivergent research, dynamical systems theory, cognitive architecture, subsymbolic cognition
Download full paper (PDF, Zenodo)
This page provides a static landing page for an academic paper archived on Zenodo. No cookies, tracking, analytics, or user interaction are used. The content is provided for scholarly documentation purposes only. Author identification and contact context are available via the linked DOI and ORCID records.