Autism as Compression Asymmetry: Reinterpreting the Spectrum Through the Multidimensional α(d) Profile

Autism spectrum conditions are conventionally described through behavioral deficits (social communication impairment, restricted interests, repetitive behaviors) or through cognitive theories (weak central coherence, impaired theory of mind, enhanced perceptual functioning). This paper offers a unifying reinterpretation: autism is an extreme asymmetry in the multidimensional compression profile α(d). Autistic individuals show exceptionally high α (compression efficiency) in pattern-based, rule-governed, and perceptual domains, and exceptionally low α in social, pragmatic, and contextual domains. This is not deficit. It is profile shape. Savant abilities are the extreme positive tail of α in narrow domains. Social difficulty is the extreme negative tail of α in social gist extraction. 'Restricted interests' are the rational allocation of cognitive resources to domains where the individual's compression function produces the highest return. This reframing has immediate implications for intervention: rather than training the low-α domains toward neurotypical norms, optimal support leverages the high-α domains as the individual's primary interface with the world.