The Neurodevelopmental Load-Regulation-Expression Model

AbstractAutistic people and other neurodivergent individuals exhibit substantial variation in sensory experiences, interests, emotional responses, repetitive behaviours, and strategies for managing everyday demands. Some repetitive vocal or motor behaviours may be associated with self-regulation, enjoyment, emotional expression, communication, sensory exploration, or multiple functions. Their occurrence and consequences may vary within and between individuals and across developmental periods. Nevertheless, the function of a behaviour cannot be reliably inferred from its visible form alone.This paper proposes the Neurodevelopmental Load-Regulation-Expression Model (NLREM), an integrative theoretical framework intended to organise these phenomena within a testable architecture. The model places the Load-Regulation-Expression Loop (LREL) at its conceptual centre. LREL describes a candidate sequence in which contextual and internal demands interact with available regulatory resources, influence the probability of automatic, habitual, or deliberate behavioural responses, and may be followed by changes in perceived state, environmental conditions, or future behavioural probabilities.The Relative Regulatory Load Gap (RRLG) is proposed as a person-relative construct representing the difference between operationalised demands and available regulatory resources. Additional modules distinguish behavioural occurrence from observable expression, behavioural topography from functional role, within-person variation from between-person differences, and short-term state dynamics from developmental change. The framework also specifies a candidate biological interface for research on autonomic and endocrine processes without presuming an established physiological pathway.A primary case, Interest-Linked Vocal-Motor Stimming (ILVMS), provides a consistent analytical example across a proposed twenty-layer architecture. Eight principal hypotheses, mathematical model families, measurement specifications, counterexamples, clinical translation principles, and a staged research programme are defined. The framework is explicitly falsifiable: evidence against the proposed load-related mechanism or the generality of a shared functional architecture would require revision or restriction of the model. No empirical results are claimed.Keywords: autism; stimming: restricted and repetitive behaviours; regulatory load; sensory processing; functional heterogeneity; automaticity; nonlinear dynamics; individual differences; lifespan development; theoretical modelling.