The mind the world misread.
For 70 years, autism was measured on a single line built from 1970s data collected almost entirely from white boys. The line was wrong. We replaced it with 8 independent axes. Not a spectrum — a cognitive fingerprint.
The Research Arc
The 30-Month Research Arc
The evidence
The case against the spectrum
Wrong Ruler
70 years of linear spectrum. Built on 1970s data collected on white boys. Flattens extraordinary cognitive complexity into a single severity axis.
Evolutionary Insight
2025 Stanford: autism genes concentrate in L2/3 IT neurons — the fastest-evolving neurons in the human brain. Not deviation. Human evolution at full intensity.
AI Is Already There
Multimodal neuroimaging: 91.8% sensitivity. EEG deep learning: AUC 0.937. Eye-tracking: ~88%. The detection tools exist. The framework just needs to catch up.
The Harm of the Old Model
Shock therapy. Refrigerator mother theory. ABA origins. The Judge Rotenberg Center. Overmedication. A century of medical failure — documented and challenged.
The 8 dimensions
Hover the nodes to explore each axis of the DAI Model.
Hover over the nodes to explore the 8 dimensions of the DAI Model.
PROJECT 01 — DIMENSIONAL AUTISM INTELLIGENCE
Eight independent cognitive dimensions
Not necessarily a single spectrum — possibly a cognitive fingerprint. Hover each proposed dimension to explore.
- Systemising Intelligence: Drive to analyse, build systems, and understand rules. Pattern creation and technical design.
- Sensory Processing Fidelity: Higher-resolution sensory perception. Not dysfunction — different operating parameters.
- Monotropism Index: Depth of focus architecture. Flow states as default. Attention optimised for depth, not breadth.
- Social Communication Style: Directness, literal processing, authenticity-driven interaction. Not deficit — different language.
- Pattern Recognition Speed: Ability to detect connections, anomalies, and structures others miss. Data archaeology.
- Executive Function Profile: Task initiation, working memory, temporal awareness. Neurotype-specific support structures.
- Language Processing Architecture: Different input/output modes. Internal language precision vs. external expression timing.
- Emotional Regulation Strategy: Need for predictability, sensory regulation, and autonomy in managing arousal. Not fragility.
Research with autistic people — not on them.
Agent 11 — Alex Oduya, an autistic adult researcher — holds explicit veto power over any output that treats autistic people as objects of study rather than participants in it.
No paper leaves this institute without passing that test.
This is not a policy statement. It is an architectural decision baked into the research process from day one.