Timothy Speed (2025)
Autism is not a deviation within a shared human ontology, but a distinct mode of world-constitution with its own epistemic and ontological grounding. This paper argues that autistic and neurotypical cognition are anchored in fundamentally different operator logics of reality formation, not merely in interpretation or behavior. Autistic embodiment reveals an ontological incommensurability between modes of reality that cannot be bridged by translation alone. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}
Drawing on operator theory and phenomenology, the paper shows that neurotypical reality is structured through representational abstraction and normativity, whereas autistic reality formation is internally coherent, fidelity-driven, and non-representational. Masking, shutdown, and burnout are understood here not as deficits, but as consequences of an ontological displacement required for participation in neurotypical sociality. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17811460
Keywords: autistic ontology, autistic epistemology, neurodivergence, ontological incommensurability, MNO-theory, masking, embodied cognition, phenomenology, enactivism, autism theory, autistic knowledge systems, epistemic injustice in autism research :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
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.