Glossary

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Alexithymia

A subclinical condition in which a person has marked difficulty identifying, describing, and distinguishing their own emotions, often accompanied by an externally oriented thinking style and limited imagination about inner states. Alexithymia commonly co-occurs with autism,…

Body Doubling(also: Parallel Working, Co-Working for Focus)

A productivity and focus strategy commonly used by people with ADHD and other executive function challenges, where having another person present — physically or virtually — helps with task initiation and sustained attention. The other person does not need to assist with the…

Cerebral Visual Impairment(also: CVI, Cortical Visual Impairment, Brain-Based Visual Impairment)

A form of visual impairment caused by damage to or dysfunction in the brain's visual processing centres, rather than problems with the eyes themselves. CVI is the leading cause of childhood vision impairment in developed countries and is projected to become a leading cause of…

Digital Stimming(also: Digital self-stimulation)

The deliberate, controlled engagement with digital content — typically apps, videos, or sites commonly labeled as 'distracting' — as a self-regulatory or soothing behavior, analogous to physical stimming (repetitive self-soothing actions recognized in neurodivergent…

Dysregulation(also: Emotional Dysregulation, Sensory Dysregulation)

Dysregulation is a state in which a person's emotional, sensory, or physiological response exceeds what they can manage given the current context - typically manifesting as distress, overwhelm, shutdown, or outburst. It is common in autism, ADHD, noise sensitivity, PTSD, and a…

Executive Dysfunction(also: Executive Function Deficit, EF Impairment)

A disruption in the efficiency of executive functions that affects a person's ability to plan, organize, initiate tasks, manage time, make decisions, and regulate behavior. Executive dysfunction is a core feature of ADHD and is also associated with autism, depression, traumatic…

Executive Function(also: EF, Executive Functioning)

A set of higher-order cognitive processes that enable planning, organizing, initiating tasks, sustaining attention, managing time, regulating emotions, and adapting to new situations. Executive functions are critical for goal-directed behavior and are commonly impaired in…

Generalized Anxiety Disorder(also: GAD)

A mental-health condition characterized by persistent, excessive, and often uncontrollable worry about a range of everyday situations, accompanied by physical and cognitive symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance.…

Hemi-Attention(also: Hemispatial Neglect, Unilateral Neglect, Visual Neglect)

A neurological condition in which a person has reduced attention or awareness to one side of space, typically the side opposite to a brain injury. Unlike hemianopsia (where visual input is lost), hemi-attention involves a failure to attend to or process stimuli on the affected…

Hyperfixation

Hyperfixation is an intense, prolonged focus on a single activity, topic or interest to the exclusion of other tasks and bodily needs, commonly associated with ADHD and autism. Unlike hyperfocus, which is often channelled toward a productive task, hyperfixation can latch onto…

Interoception(also: Interoceptive Awareness)

The sense of the internal state of the body, including perception of heartbeat, breathing, hunger, thirst, temperature, pain, and emotional feelings. Interoception enables people to recognize and respond to their physiological and emotional states. Differences in interoception…

Neurodivergent Movement(also: Neurodiversity Movement)

A social movement, largely driven by online collective action beginning in the early 2000s, that challenges traditional deficit-based models of neurological differences like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other cognitive variations. The movement advocates for understanding these…

Optic Ataxia(also: Visuomotor Ataxia)

A neurological condition characterised by impaired reaching for objects using visual guidance, despite having adequate vision and motor strength. People with optic ataxia can see an object and describe its location but struggle to accurately direct their hand toward it. This…

Parallel Play(also: Parallel Activity)

A form of social interaction where individuals engage in separate activities alongside each other without direct interaction. Originally described in child development research by Mildred Parten in 1932, parallel play has been recognized in neurodivergent communities as a…

Prosopagnosia(also: Face Blindness)

A neurological condition characterised by the inability to recognise familiar faces, despite otherwise intact visual and cognitive abilities. People with prosopagnosia may fail to recognise family members, friends, or colleagues by face alone, instead relying on alternative cues…

Self-Accommodation(also: Self-Accommodations)

Strategies and adaptations that individuals develop independently to manage disability-related challenges, without formal support systems or clinical intervention. Self-accommodations are particularly common among neurodivergent individuals who may not have access to formal…

Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is the internal capacity to initiate and sustain tasks without relying on external rewards or pressure. In accessibility contexts, self-motivation is relevant to executive function and is often reduced for people with ADHD, depression, chronic fatigue, and…

Sensory Overload(also: Sensory Overwhelm, Overstimulation)

A state in which the brain receives more sensory input than it can effectively process, leading to stress, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and in severe cases, meltdowns or shutdowns. Sensory overload can be triggered by excessive visual complexity, noise, crowds, bright or…

Sensory Sensitivity(also: Sensory Sensitivities, Hyper-/Hyposensitivity)

Heightened or reduced responses to sensory input including sounds, lights, textures, tastes, and smells. Sensory sensitivity is common among autistic people, with approximately 74% experiencing atypical sensory processing. Hypersensitivity (over-responsiveness) may cause…

Shutdown(also: Autistic Shutdown)

A response to overwhelming sensory, emotional, or cognitive input in which an autistic person withdraws or retreats from their environment. Unlike meltdowns (which are outward expressions of distress), shutdowns involve a reduction in communication, interaction, and…

Stimulus Overselectivity(also: Tunnel Vision, Attentional Overselectivity)

A phenomenon observed in some individuals with autism where attention is focused on a limited subset of available sensory information while other relevant stimuli are neglected. Sometimes described as a form of "tunnel vision," stimulus overselectivity means a person may attend…

Time Blindness(also: Diminished time awareness)

A reduced or unreliable awareness of the passage of time, commonly associated with ADHD and related executive-function differences. People experiencing time blindness may struggle to estimate how long tasks take, notice elapsed time during immersive activities, or plan backward…

Weak Central Coherence(also: WCC, Central Coherence Theory)

A cognitive theory proposing that individuals with autism tend to process information in a detail-focused, piecemeal way rather than integrating it into a coherent whole. In the context of web accessibility, weak central coherence means autistic users may focus intensely on…

23 results.