Glossary
Terms used in accessibility research and practice. Each entry has a definition, common aliases, and category tags.
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- AI Companion(also: Chatbot Companion, AI Companionship)
- An AI companion is an artificial-intelligence system - typically a text, voice or avatar-based chatbot built on a large language model - explicitly designed to offer users a sense of social presence, intimacy or relational support, marketed as a friend, confidant, mentor or…
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy(also: ACT)
- A form of cognitive behavioral therapy that encourages acceptance of unwanted thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or suppressing them, combined with commitment to actions aligned with personal values. For OCD, ACT teaches individuals to acknowledge obsessive thoughts…
- Administrative Burden(also: Bureaucratic Burden, Process Burden)
- The cumulative effort, time, stress, and negative impacts that result from navigating administrative processes such as applying for benefits, gaining medical evidence, completing forms, and interacting with multiple organisations to achieve a particular goal. For disabled…
- Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale(also: ASRS, ASRS-v1.1, Adult ADHD Self-Rating Scale)
- A short self-report screening instrument for adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with researchers from Harvard Medical School. The most widely used version, ASRS-v1.1, is an 18-item questionnaire whose first…
- Affective Lability(also: Mood Lability, Emotional Lability)
- A pattern of rapid, unpredictable shifts in emotional state, often involving intense fluctuations between positive and negative moods with minimal external provocation. Affective lability is commonly associated with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder,…
- 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,…
- Ambiguous Loss
- Ambiguous loss, a concept articulated by Pauline Boss, is 'a situation of unclear loss that remains unverified and thus without resolution'. Boss distinguishes two types: physical loss where someone is 'gone, but not for sure' (for example, a missing person) and psychological…
- Animal-Assisted Therapy(also: AAT, Pet Therapy)
- A non-pharmacological therapeutic approach in which interaction with animals — typically dogs, cats, or horses — is used to support physical, cognitive, social, or emotional health goals. Evidence suggests AAT can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve mood and…
- Anticipatory Grief(also: pre-death grief, anticipatory mourning)
- Grief experienced before an expected loss, particularly common among caregivers of individuals with progressive neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Anticipatory grief encompasses mourning not only of the anticipated death, but also of the ongoing losses…
- Anxiety(also: Anxiety Disorder)
- An emotional and physiological state characterised by apprehension about future threats, accompanied by heightened autonomic arousal (elevated heart rate, muscle tension, shallow breathing), attentional bias toward danger cues, and often avoidance behaviour. Clinical anxiety…
- Attention Restoration(also: Attention Restoration Theory, ART)
- A theoretical framework proposing that directed attention is a finite cognitive resource that becomes depleted through effortful focus and is restored through exposure to environments or activities that engage "soft fascination" — such as natural settings, visuals with fractal…
- Augmented Reality Intervention(also: AR Intervention, AR-Based Intervention)
- The use of augmented reality technology to deliver therapeutic or supportive interventions by overlaying digital content onto a person's real-world view. For OCD, proposed AR interventions include placing visual barriers on objects being compulsively examined (to interrupt…
- Autistic Burnout(also: Autistic Fatigue, Neurodivergent Burnout)
- A state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion experienced by autistic people, often resulting from the cumulative effect of masking (suppressing autistic traits to appear neurotypical), sensory overload, and the ongoing effort of navigating environments not designed for…
- Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response(also: ASMR)
- A sensory tingling experience, typically in the scalp and upper spine, triggered by specific audio–visual stimuli such as whispering, soft tapping, or gentle hand movements. ASMR is associated with reduced heart rate and is used by many people — including neurodivergent…
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