# 5. Implications

## Diagnosis, Support, and Lived Experiences

The implications of Monotropic Expansion extend far beyond theoretical clarity. If autistic cognition is fundamentally structured rather than disordered, then every system built on behavioral assumptions—from diagnosis to therapy, education, and support—must be reexamined through that lens. This section explores the practical and ethical consequences of adopting a structural model: how it reshapes our understanding of coexisting conditions, therapeutic misalignment, educational friction, identity formation, and societal resistance. By tracing these implications outward from cognitive structure rather than cultural interpretation, Monotropic Expansion offers not just a better model, but a call for systemic realignment.
