Why isn't NVLD on the Autism Spectrum?

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Why not?

Here is a relevant (though dated) collection of articles: Nonverbal Learning Disorders vs Asperger's Syndrome.

As far as I can tell: NVLD is a cognitive profile, diagnosed via one's relative scores on different parts of an IQ test, whereas ASD is defined and diagnosed in terms of behaviors.

Autistic people do tend to have lopsided cognitive profiles of one kind or another, such as NVLD. And there is a substantial mutual overlap between people who fit criteria for NVLD and people who fit the criteria for what used to be called Asperger's syndrome. According to one of the pages listed on the page linked above, 80% of a sample of children diagnosed with AS also fit criteria for NVLD.

But a lopsided cognitive profile is not part of the definition of ASD, nor are autistic behaviors part of the definition of NVLD.

Because non verbal learning disability is a learning difference

Autism is a developmental disability

Autism is a description of certain people (really a certain type of brain) from a nuero-psychological perspective.

Nonverbal Learning Disability describes a certain set of learning difficulties from a educators perspective.

Consider people who are blind. Some people are born blind, while others suffer injuries which blind them. But both can be called blind.

NVLD is akin to being 'blind'. Autism is akin to being born blind, but there may be some people who fit the NVLD profile who are not autistic.

I have a hunch that a majority of people with the NVLD label are autistic, though. The symptoms line up too closely. These people have probably just been labeled by an educator or a therapist as opposed to a neuro-psychologist.