# 4.4. Theory of Mind (ToM) and the Assumption of Deficiency

## 4.4. Theory of Mind (ToM) and the Assumption of Deficiency

The traditional Theory of Mind framework posits that autistic individuals lack the ability to infer the mental states of others. Monotropic Expansion does not attempt to rehabilitate this theory—instead, it directly challenges its foundation.

Difficulty understanding others’ perspectives is not always a failure of empathy or cognition, but a mismatch in contextual anchoring—that is, the starting point from which each individual constructs meaning and relevance. Autistic individuals may be expanding thought from a very different starting point, leading to conclusions that feel misaligned from the outside, but internally valid and coherent.

This model reframes social friction as an outcome of directional dissonance—where cognitive flow paths are incompatible, not broken. It also explains why autistic individuals often report deep insight or hyper-empathy when given time and context to work through interactions on their own terms. It supports the notion that social cognition may be present but differently structured and accessed.

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