1. Any "merely" cognitive theory of autism (one that treats it solely as a psychological condition) is incomplete.

2. This is bc such theories don't account for autistics' increased risk for epilepsy, gastrointestinal issues, & other health conditions.

3. That said, some theories of what cognitive features define autism are better than others.

4. My preferred hypothesis is mnesic imbalance theory:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2577648/

5. In simplistic terms that really don't do it justice, the theory says autistics' difficulties socializing, executive function, and...

6. ..."big picture" thinking all have a common cause: We have to do deliberately what comes automatically or unconsciously to neurotypicals.

7. ("Mnesic" is an obscure term referring to "memory." The theory posits that there's an "imbalance" between two types of memory that...

8.)...psychologists distinguish between: Declarative memory, which is what we use to remember facts we can put into words, and...

9.)...procedural memory, which is our capacity to learn and carry out tasks. According to the mnesic theory, autistics have good or superior

10.)....declarative memory, but are impaired at certain skills—real time inference about others' mental states linguistic meanings,...

11.)..., bodily coordination, making big generalizations from limited data—that NTs do with much less effort.)

12.) Unfortunately, there isn't much literature on mnesic theory; most of it seems to be written by one guy, Miguel Ángel Romero-Munguía.

13.) What do other #ActuallyAutistic people think? Does the theory seem true to life? Does it jibe with what else you've read?

14.) Or is it just another mainstream effort to characterize ASD that comes off as overly clinical & condescending?