AUTISM GLOSSARY
Autism Terms Explained
185 terms. Plain language. No jargon. Each term explains what it is, why it matters, and what people commonly get wrong.
A
Autistic Burnout
Autistic burnout is a state of profound physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by sustained masking...
Alexithymia
Alexithymia describes difficulty identifying and describing one's own emotions. People with alexithymia may no...
Allistic
Allistic is a term used to describe people who are not autistic, a more specific term than neurotypical, which...
AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)
AAC refers to any method of communication used to supplement or replace natural speech. It ranges from low-tec...
ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis)
ABA is a behavioral therapy based on the science of behavior and learning. It is the most researched autism in...
Augmentative Communication
Augmentative communication refers to any approach that supplements existing communication abilities. It encomp...
Apraxia of Speech
Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder affecting the planning and programming of the movements needed fo...
Aphantasia
Aphantasia is the inability to form mental images, the mind's eye is blank. It is more common in autistic and ...
ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)
ARFID is an eating disorder characterized by avoidance or restriction of food based on sensory properties, fea...
Autism Acceptance
Autism acceptance is the stance that autistic people deserve to be understood, included, and valued as they ar...
Autism Awareness
Autism awareness is the older approach focused on making the public know that autism exists and recognize its ...
Ableism
Ableism is discrimination against or devaluing of disabled people, including autistic people. It shows up in o...
Asperger's
Asperger's was once a separate diagnosis for autistic people who spoke fluently and had no early language dela...
Actually Autistic
Actually Autistic is an online community and hashtag used by autistic people to share their own perspectives i...
Aided Language Modeling
Aided language modeling is a way of teaching AAC by using it yourself as you talk. When a communication partne...
Auditory Processing Disorder
Auditory processing disorder describes difficulty making sense of heard information even when hearing itself i...
Autistic Inertia
Autistic inertia is the difficulty starting a task or activity and, once going, the difficulty stopping it. A ...
Affective Empathy
Affective empathy is feeling with another person, sharing in their emotion rather than just understanding it. ...
Associative Thinking
Associative thinking is linking ideas in nonlinear, branching ways, where one thought sparks another through c...
Autistic Catatonia
Autistic catatonia is a serious state affecting movement and the ability to start or complete actions. A perso...
Autistic Fatigue
Autistic fatigue is a deep, ongoing tiredness that builds from the constant work of navigating a world not des...
Autistic Joy
Autistic joy is the deep, whole-body delight autistic people find in their interests, sensations, and ways of ...
ADOS
The ADOS, or Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, is a structured assessment a trained professional uses to...
Adaptive Behavior
Adaptive behavior refers to the everyday self-care and independence skills a person uses to get through daily ...
ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental difference in how the brain regulates attention, impulse, and activity. It shows ...
AuDHD (Autism + ADHD)
AuDHD is a community term for being both autistic and having ADHD. The two profiles interact rather than simpl...
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Autism Spectrum Disorder is the diagnostic term used in the DSM-5-TR for autism. It is defined by differences ...
Autism in Girls and Women
Autistic girls and women are frequently identified later or missed entirely, partly because diagnostic criteri...
B
BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst)
A BCBA is a professional certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to practice applied beha...
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)
A BIP is a plan based on an FBA that identifies strategies for teaching alternative behaviors and modifying th...
Bottom-Up Processing
Bottom-up processing means building an understanding by gathering the individual details first and assembling ...
Body Doubling
Body doubling is doing a task while another person is present, in the room or on a video call, whose presence ...
C
Camouflaging
Camouflaging is the broader term for hiding neurodivergent characteristics in social contexts. It encompasses ...
Co-occurring Conditions
Co-occurring conditions are diagnoses that exist alongside autism. Common co-occurring conditions include ADHD...
Communication Passport
A communication passport is a short, personal document that explains how someone communicates best. It might d...
Context-Blindness
Context-blindness describes the difficulty some autistic people have automatically pulling in surrounding cont...
Cognitive Empathy
Cognitive empathy is the ability to work out what another person is thinking or feeling, reading their mental ...
Co-Regulation
Co-regulation is when a calm, steady adult helps a child settle their nervous system by sharing their own calm...
Complex PTSD
Complex PTSD is a stress-related condition that can develop after prolonged or repeated overwhelming experienc...
Comfort Object
A comfort object is a specific item, a toy, a soft fabric, a particular fidget, that provides reassurance and ...
D
Double Empathy Problem
The double empathy problem, theorized by Dr. Damian Milton, proposes that the social communication difficultie...
Discrete Trial Training (DTT)
Discrete trial training is a structured ABA teaching method using repeated, discrete trials: a therapist prese...
Demand Avoidance
Demand avoidance describes a behavioral pattern in which a person resists and avoids ordinary demands and expe...
Dyspraxia (DCD)
Dyspraxia, now more commonly called Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), affects the planning and execut...
Disability Pride
Disability pride is the stance that being disabled, including being autistic, is a valid and worthwhile way to...
Delayed Echolalia
Delayed echolalia is when an autistic person repeats words or phrases they heard earlier, sometimes hours or d...
Declarative Language
Declarative language is a supportive communication style built around comments and observations rather than qu...
Detail-Focused Processing
Detail-focused processing, sometimes called local processing, is a tendency to attend closely to the individua...
Dysregulation
Dysregulation is being outside your window of tolerance, when emotions or your nervous system are no longer ma...
Diagnostic Overshadowing
Diagnostic overshadowing happens when every difficulty an autistic person has gets blamed on autism, so other ...
DSM-5-TR
The DSM-5-TR is the current text-revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,...
DSM Support Levels
The DSM-5-TR describes autism using three support levels: Level 1 (requiring support), Level 2 (requiring subs...
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental learning difference that mainly affects reading, spelling, and decoding words...
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is a learning difference that affects understanding numbers, quantities, and mathematical reasonin...
Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a difference that affects writing, including handwriting, spelling, and organizing thoughts on t...
E
Echolalia
Echolalia is the repetition of words, phrases, or sounds heard from others or from media. Immediate echolalia ...
Executive Function
Executive functions are the cognitive processes that support planning, organizing, initiating tasks, managing ...
Executive Dysfunction
Executive dysfunction refers to difficulty with the cognitive processes involved in planning, initiating, orga...
Echopraxia
Echopraxia is the involuntary imitation of another person's movements or gestures. Like echolalia with speech,...
Eye Contact
Eye contact means looking into another person's eyes during interaction. For many autistic people it can feel ...
Emotional Regulation
Emotional regulation is the ability to notice, understand, and manage emotional states so feelings do not over...
Early Intervention
Early intervention refers to supports and services offered to very young children with developmental differenc...
Early Start Denver Model
The Early Start Denver Model, or ESDM, is a specific naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention design...
Elopement (Wandering)
Elopement is when an autistic person, often a child, leaves a safe space suddenly and without warning. It may ...
Extinction Burst
In behavioral terms, an extinction burst is a temporary increase in a behavior right after the reinforcement t...
Ear Defenders
Ear defenders are noise-reducing headphones or earplugs used to lower the volume and intensity of sound in the...
F
FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education)
FAPE is a right guaranteed under IDEA to all students with disabilities in the US. Schools must provide an edu...
Floortime (DIR/Floortime)
Floortime, developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, is a developmental therapy model that follows the child's lead,...
Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
An FBA is a systematic process for identifying the function, the 'why' of a specific behavior. Understanding w...
Fawn Response
The fawn response is a trauma-informed concept describing a stress response in which a person appeases others ...
Functioning Labels
Functioning labels are terms like high functioning and low functioning used to sort autistic people into tidy ...
Flow State
Flow state is deep, absorbed engagement in an activity, where focus feels effortless and time falls away. Rela...
G
Gestalt Language Processing
Gestalt language processing, often shortened to GLP, is a natural way many autistic people learn language. Ins...
Gravitational Insecurity
Gravitational insecurity is a strong fear or discomfort with movement, height, or having the feet leave the gr...
Glimmers
Glimmers are small moments that spark a feeling of calm, safety, or quiet joy, the gentle opposite of triggers...
Generalization
Generalization is applying a skill learned in one setting to new settings, people, or situations. Many autisti...
Gender Diversity and Autism
Autistic people are more likely than non-autistic people to be transgender, nonbinary, or gender-diverse, and ...
H
Hyperfocus
Hyperfocus is a state of intense concentration on a task or topic, during which external distractions fade and...
High-Masking
High-masking describes autistic people who are particularly skilled at concealing autistic traits in social si...
Hypermobility
Hypermobility refers to joints that move beyond the typical range of motion. Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrom...
Hyperlexia
Hyperlexia is characterized by an advanced ability to read, significantly above what is expected for developme...
Hypotonia
Hypotonia means low muscle tone, where muscles feel softer or looser and take more effort to hold steady. It i...
Hyperempathy
Hyperempathy is experiencing other people's emotions with unusual intensity, sometimes to the point of overwhe...
Hypervigilance
Hypervigilance is a state of constant threat-scanning, where the nervous system stays on high alert watching f...
I
Interoception
Interoception is the internal sense that monitors the body's internal state: hunger, thirst, pain, heartbeat, ...
Identity-First Language
Identity-first language places the identity word first: 'autistic person' rather than 'person with autism.' It...
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
An IEP is a legally binding document developed for students with disabilities in the US under the Individuals ...
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
IDEA is the federal law that governs special education in the United States. It guarantees eligible children w...
Internalized Ableism
Internalized ableism is what happens when an autistic person absorbs the negative messages the world sends abo...
Info-Dumping
Info-dumping is sharing a large amount of detailed knowledge about a topic someone loves, often with great ent...
Inclusion
Inclusion in education means autistic children learn alongside their peers in general classrooms, with the sup...
Insistence on Sameness
Insistence on sameness is a strong preference for predictability in routines, environments, and expectations, ...
L
LRE (Least Restrictive Environment)
LRE is the IDEA requirement that students with disabilities be educated alongside non-disabled students to the...
LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning)
LAMP is an AAC approach that uses consistent motor patterns to build language. Based on principles of motor le...
Late Diagnosis
Late diagnosis refers to receiving an autism diagnosis in adulthood or significantly later than is typical. It...
Literal Interpretation
Literal interpretation is taking language at its exact, face-value meaning. Many autistic people process words...
Light Sensitivity
Light sensitivity, sometimes called photosensitivity, is discomfort or distress caused by bright, harsh, or fl...
Low-Arousal Approach
A low-arousal approach means lowering demands, sensory input, and pressure to help a person stay regulated. It...
M
Masking
Masking is the practice of hiding or suppressing autistic traits to fit into neurotypical social environments....
Monotropism
Monotropism is a theory of autism that describes how autistic people tend to focus their attention and interes...
Meltdown
A meltdown is an involuntary neurological response to sensory, emotional, or cognitive overwhelm. During a mel...
Makaton
Makaton is a language program using signs, symbols, and speech to support communication. It uses a core vocabu...
Minimally Speaking
Minimally speaking (also 'minimally verbal') describes people who use speech functionally but with significant...
Medical Model Of Disability
The medical model views disability as a problem located inside the person, something to be diagnosed, treated,...
Misophonia
Misophonia is a strong, involuntary aversive reaction to specific sounds, often everyday ones like chewing, br...
Motor Planning
Motor planning, also called praxis, is the brain's ability to figure out, sequence, and carry out a new physic...
M-CHAT
The M-CHAT, short for Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, is a short questionnaire parents complete abo...
Medicaid Waiver
In the United States, a Medicaid waiver is a program that lets states use Medicaid funds to pay for home and c...
N
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is the concept that neurological differences, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and ...
Neurodivergent
Neurodivergent describes a person whose neurological development differs from what is considered typical. The ...
Neurotypical
Neurotypical describes a person whose neurological development follows the typical developmental trajectory, w...
Nonspeaking
Nonspeaking describes autistic and disabled people who do not use spoken speech as their primary communication...
Neurodiversity Paradigm
The neurodiversity paradigm is the framework that treats variation in human brains and minds as a natural and ...
Nothing About Us Without Us
Nothing About Us Without Us is a disability rights principle stating that decisions affecting disabled people ...
Natural Language Acquisition
Natural Language Acquisition, or NLA, is a framework that describes how gestalt language processors move from ...
Nonspeaking vs Nonverbal
Nonspeaking and nonverbal both describe people who do not communicate mainly through speech, but many in the c...
Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention
Naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention, or NDBI, is a family of play-based approaches that support...
O
Oral Sensory Seeking
Oral sensory seeking is looking for input through the mouth by chewing, mouthing objects, biting, or craving c...
Object Permanence
In everyday neurodivergent use, object permanence describes the out of sight, out of mind experience where tas...
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy, often shortened to OT, supports people in doing the everyday activities that matter to t...
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)
OCD involves unwanted, distressing intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive actions or mental rituals (c...
P
Perseveration
Perseveration refers to the repetition of a particular response, thought, or behavior even when it is no longe...
Proprioception
Proprioception is the sensory system that tells the brain where the body is in space, the position and movemen...
Person-First Language
Person-first language places the person before the identity: 'person with autism' rather than 'autistic person...
PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System)
PECS is a communication system that teaches non-speaking individuals to communicate by exchanging picture card...
Presuming Competence
Presuming competence means assuming that every person, regardless of communication, motor, or cognitive challe...
PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)
PDA is an autism profile characterized by extreme anxiety-driven avoidance of everyday demands and expectation...
Prosody
Prosody is the music of speech, its rhythm, melody, pitch, stress, and intonation. It is how we say something,...
Pragmatic Language
Pragmatic language is the social use of language, the unwritten rules for how we communicate in context. It co...
Pattern Recognition
Pattern recognition is the ability to notice regularities, structures, and connections in information, and it ...
Prospective Memory
Prospective memory is remembering to do something in the future, like returning a form, taking a snack, or rep...
Paraprofessional
A paraprofessional, sometimes called an aide or one-to-one support, is a trained staff member who assists in t...
Parallel Play
Parallel play is being alongside others, doing your own activity near them rather than directly interacting. O...
Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness)
Prosopagnosia is difficulty recognizing faces, including familiar ones and sometimes one's own. People often r...
Pica
Pica is the persistent eating of non-food items such as paper, fabric, or small objects. It is more common amo...
Prompt Dependency
Prompt dependency is when a person comes to rely on cues or prompts, verbal, gestural, or physical, to perform...
R
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)
RSD is an intense emotional response to perceived rejection, criticism, failure, or teasing. It is common in A...
Rumination
Rumination is getting caught in loops of repetitive thought, replaying a worry, a mistake, or an unresolved si...
Respite Care
Respite care is short-term care that gives family caregivers a break. A trained caregiver looks after the auti...
Restraint and Seclusion
Restraint is physically holding or restricting a person's movement; seclusion is confining them alone in a spa...
S
Stimming
Stimming, short for self-stimulatory behavior, refers to repetitive movements, sounds, or sensory input that h...
Scripts
Scripts are memorized phrases or dialogue that autistic people use in social situations. Scripts may come from...
Special Interest
A special interest is a topic, activity, or subject that an autistic person engages with at an intense, focuse...
Shutdown
A shutdown is a response to overwhelm in which the autistic person withdraws, becomes unresponsive, or loses t...
Sensory Overload
Sensory overload occurs when sensory input exceeds what the nervous system can process comfortably. Sounds, li...
Sensory Processing
Sensory processing refers to how the nervous system receives, interprets, and responds to sensory input from t...
Sensory Diet
A sensory diet is a personalized plan of sensory activities designed to help a person maintain optimal arousal...
Section 504 Plan
A Section 504 plan is an accommodation plan for students with disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilita...
Spiky Profile
A spiky profile describes the pattern of significant strengths and significant challenges that characterize ma...
Social Stories
Social Stories, developed by Carol Gray, are short narratives that describe social situations, events, or conc...
Sensory Seeking
Sensory seeking describes a pattern in which a person actively seeks out sensory input, crashing into things, ...
Sensory Avoiding
Sensory avoiding describes a pattern in which a person actively avoids sensory input, pulling away from touch,...
Self-Advocacy
Self-advocacy is the practice of speaking up for oneself, communicating needs, rights, and preferences. In the...
Social Model Of Disability
The social model of disability says people are disabled less by their bodies or minds and more by a world buil...
Support Needs
Support needs is the language many autistic people prefer instead of functioning labels. It describes the kind...
Self-Diagnosis
Self-diagnosis is when a person recognizes themselves as autistic through deep research, reflection, and conne...
Selective Mutism
Selective mutism is a situation where a person who can speak becomes unable to speak in certain settings, ofte...
Synesthesia
Synesthesia is a blending of the senses, where one kind of input automatically triggers another. An autistic p...
Sensory Integration
Sensory integration is how the brain takes in information from all the senses, including movement and body pos...
Sensory Modulation
Sensory modulation is how the nervous system regulates its response to input, deciding what to notice and how ...
Sensory Friendly
Sensory friendly describes environments and events designed to reduce sensory load so autistic people can take...
Safety Behaviors
Safety behaviors are actions a person uses to lower anxiety or feel more in control in the moment. Examples in...
Spoon Theory
Spoon theory is a metaphor for limited daily energy. Imagine starting each day with a set number of spoons, an...
Speech-Language Therapy
Speech-language therapy supports communication in all its forms. A speech-language pathologist may help with s...
Supported Decision-Making
Supported decision-making is an approach in which a person keeps their legal right to make their own choices w...
Stereotypy
Stereotypy is the clinical term for repetitive movements, sounds, or actions, such as hand-flapping, rocking, ...
Savant Syndrome
Savant syndrome describes rare cases where a person has an exceptional, highly specific skill, such as calenda...
Splinter Skills
Splinter skills are abilities that are notably advanced compared to a person's other skills, and that may not ...
Sensory Room
A sensory room is a dedicated space designed to provide calming or regulating sensory input, with features lik...
T
Twice-Exceptional (2e)
Twice-exceptional describes students who have both a disability (such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia) and gifted...
Transition Planning
Transition planning is the process of preparing autistic and disabled students for life after high school, inc...
Total Communication
Total communication is an approach that welcomes every available way of communicating rather than prioritizing...
Toe Walking
Toe walking is walking on the balls of the feet with the heels lifted, and it is common among autistic childre...
Tactile Defensiveness
Tactile defensiveness is a heightened, often distressing reaction to certain kinds of touch. An autistic perso...
Time-Blindness
Time-blindness is the difficulty many autistic and ADHD people have sensing how much time has passed or how mu...
The Spectrum
Calling autism a spectrum means autistic traits and support needs vary widely from person to person and within...
Theory of Mind
Theory of mind is the ability to attribute thoughts, beliefs, and intentions to others and to recognize that t...
Tourette Syndrome
Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by tics, involuntary repetitive movements or...
V
W
Working Memory
Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind while using it, like following multi-step directions...
Weighted Input
Weighted input is deep pressure provided by tools like weighted blankets, lap pads, or vests. The steady, even...
Window Of Tolerance
The window of tolerance is the zone where a person feels settled enough to think, cope, connect, and learn. In...