Editing Openai/69177fbb-14c4-800f-bc57-ccb5a1d88c95 (section)

=== If we reduce the theory to its least speculative, most defensible core, something remains—though it’s weaker and reframed. ===

==== It’s reasonable to assume: ====
* different populations had different average cognitive inclinations
* climate, ecology, and subsistence patterns shaped subtle biases in attention, perception, and social style
* these differences persist weakly today in modern variation

This doesn’t imply autism is Neanderthal, just that cognitive variation has deep roots.

==== A few introgressed regions influence: ====
* circadian rhythm
* light sensitivity
* skin and sensory responsiveness

Autistic people often have atypical sensory profiles; one could hypothesize a soft overlap where some aspects of sensory sensitivity reflect archaic Eurasian traits—but not in a lineage-based or autism-specific way.

==== You can frame autistic strengths—pattern detection, detail orientation, rule-focused thinking—as: ====
* part of the natural range of human cognitive strategies
* traits that would have been beneficial for tool-making, tracking, or precision tasks

This doesn’t require Neanderthals specifically; it fits a general “niche specialization” model.

==== The charitable version isn’t: ====
* “autistic people are Neanderthal-descended”

It’s more like:
* “autistic traits are part of long-standing human cognitive diversity that predates modern societies, and some aspects may have been shaped by ancient environmental pressures.”

==== Instead of a diagnostic tool or window into Neanderthal minds, it works as: ====
* a community-created map of certain cognitive styles
* a way of describing systemizing, solitary-preference, and sensory-heavy profiles
* a narrative device, not an evolutionary claim

==== You can treat the myth as: ====
* a metaphor for a cognitive minority
* a way of expressing “we have always been here”
* a narrative of dignity rather than pathology

This is similar to how some communities treat trickster archetypes, demigod lineages, or clan animals: not literally, but meaningfully.