Category: Glossary

  • Support Needs (Low and High)

    Support needs describe the level of help someone requires in daily life. “Low support needs” means needing occasional or situational help. “High support needs” means needing consistent or intensive support.

    These terms are preferred over labels like “high‑functioning” or “low‑functioning,” which can be harmful. They recognise that support can fluctuate depending on environment, health, stress, or available resources — it’s not a fixed measure of ability or independence.

    Importantly, support needs are not related to intelligence or worth. A person may have strong intellectual or verbal skills and still require significant support with executive function, sensory regulation, or self-care. The aim of describing support needs is to identify what helps a person thrive, not to rank or categorise them.

    A brief history

    The language of “support needs” grew in autistic advocacy as a replacement for “high‑functioning” and “low‑functioning” labels, which were seen as harmful and misleading. The shift emphasises that needs vary across contexts and time, rather than being fixed traits.

  • Unmasking

    Unmasking is the process of reducing or stopping masking behaviours — the learned strategies autistic people use to hide or minimise traits in order to fit into neurotypical expectations. Unmasking means allowing one’s natural communication style, movement, interests, and ways of thinking to show more fully. It can feel liberating, authentic, and healing, but also deeply vulnerable, especially in environments where difference is still misunderstood or stigmatised.

    Unmasking can happen voluntarily, through conscious self-acceptance or connection with other autistic people, or involuntarily, when exhaustion, burnout, or stress make it impossible to maintain a mask. Both forms can bring relief as well as grief — confronting the loss of time spent suppressing parts of oneself, or the realisation of how much masking once protected against harm. For many, unmasking involves rebuilding a sense of identity and learning what feels genuinely comfortable, safe, and sustainable.

    A brief history

    The idea of unmasking emerged within autistic advocacy spaces in the 2010s as a counter to masking, a term used to describe the often-invisible labour of performing neurotypicality. As autistic adults began sharing their experiences online, unmasking became a powerful concept in community language — one that speaks to both personal healing and collective resistance. It remains closely tied to ideas of self-acceptance, neurodivergent pride, and the right to exist openly without fear or performance.

  • Access Needs / Accessibility

    Access needs are the supports, adjustments, or conditions someone requires to participate fully and equally. They can be physical — like ramps, seating, lighting, or quiet spaces — or social and communication-based, such as clear instructions, flexible timing, sensory considerations, or the option to use AAC or written communication. Everyone has access needs, though they may be more visible or essential for some people than others. Recognising access needs is part of valuing human diversity rather than treating accommodation as an exception.

    Accessibility means designing environments, resources, and activities so that everyone can use them, regardless of disability, neurotype, or other forms of difference. It’s not just about compliance or “fixing barriers after the fact,” but about creating systems that work for the broadest range of people from the start.

    A brief history

    The language of “access needs” and “accessibility grew” from the disability rights movements of the 1970s–1990s, particularly those influenced by the social model of disability, which reframed disability as something produced by social and structural barriers rather than individual impairments. Activists argued that people are disabled by inaccessible environments, discriminatory attitudes, and inflexible systems — not by their bodies or minds. This perspective has shaped inclusive design, education, and digital accessibility standards, and continues to influence wider movements for equity, neurodiversity inclusion, and universal design today.

  • Dysregulation (Emotional and Sensory)

    Dysregulation means difficulty managing or recovering from emotional, sensory, or physiological stress. It describes moments when the brain and body’s regulation systems become overwhelmed — making it harder to stay calm, process information, or respond in a way that feels in control.

    Emotional dysregulation can look like sudden mood changes, intense feelings, crying, anger, shutdown, or trouble calming down after something stressful. These reactions aren’t chosen; they reflect how the nervous system responds to overload or threat. For autistic and ADHD people, emotional cues may build up quickly or take longer to settle because the brain’s regulation pathways work differently.

    Sensory dysregulation happens when the body struggles to process or filter sensory input. Sounds, lights, textures, smells, movement, or even internal sensations (like hunger or pain) can become overwhelming, painful, or confusing. The person may react strongly, withdraw, or seem “unresponsive,” depending on whether their system goes into fight, flight, or freeze.

    Dysregulation is not “bad behaviour” or lack of self-control — it’s a physiological signal that the nervous system needs support, safety, or rest. Co-regulation (soothing support from another person), predictable routines, quiet spaces, or sensory tools can help the body return to balance. Over time, recognising the early signs of dysregulation can help people build self-awareness and design environments that reduce overwhelm and promote calm.

  • Executive Function

    Executive function is the set of mental skills that help us plan, organise, start and finish tasks, shift between activities, and manage time and attention. These skills also include working memory, emotional regulation, and the ability to prioritise or make decisions.

    Autistic and ADHD people often experience executive function differences, meaning that everyday tasks — such as getting started on something, remembering steps in order, or switching between tasks — can take more energy or feel inconsistent from day to day. This isn’t about laziness or lack of motivation; it reflects genuine differences in how the brain processes information and manages transitions.

    Supportive environments, clear structures, and flexible expectations can make a big difference, helping people use their strengths and reduce the strain that executive function challenges can bring.

  • Hyperfocus

    Hyperfocus refers to an intense state of concentration on a single activity, task, or subject, often to the exclusion of everything else. During hyperfocus, a person may lose track of time, overlook basic needs like eating or resting, and find it hard to switch attention. It can feel joyful and productive, bringing a sense of flow, creativity, and satisfaction, but can also become overwhelming if it disrupts daily routines or wellbeing.

    Anyone can experience hyperfocus, but for neurodivergent people — particularly those who are autistic, ADHD, or AuDHD — it may occur more frequently or feel more consuming. There are many reasons hyperfocus can occur: it might offer joy, comfort, and a sense of relief or control, or provide deep engagement with something meaningful.

    While sometimes framed negatively, hyperfocus can also be a source of strength — a way of engaging wholeheartedly with a passion or problem. Understanding how and when it happens can help people use it supportively, balancing focus with rest and self-care.

  • Savant

    Savant is a clinical term historically used to describe people with developmental differences who show exceptional ability in a particular area, such as memory, music, art, or mathematics.

    While some individuals do have remarkable specialised skills, the term is controversial because it has often been used to stereotype autistic people — implying that they are either geniuses or lacking, rather than recognising the full diversity of autistic experience.

    Many autistic advocates and researchers now prefer to describe specific abilities or interests without using the label savant, to avoid reinforcing these narrow or sensationalised views.

  • Neurotype

    Neurotype refers to the kind of brain someone has – their way of processing, learning, and experiencing the world. Autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, and neurotypical are all examples of different neurotypes. The word is often used to avoid medicalised labels and instead describe identity neutrally.

    A brief history

    The term “neurotype” became popular in autistic and neurodivergent communities in the 2010s as a way to talk about differences without pathologising them. It reflects the influence of identity‑first language and the neurodiversity movement.

  • Neuronormative

    Neuronormative describes social environments, expectations, or practices that assume everyone’s brain works in the same way — usually aligned with neurotypical standards. It points to how education, workplaces, and everyday interactions often prioritise certain ways of thinking, communicating, or behaving, while overlooking or excluding neurodivergent people. By treating one way of processing the world as the default, neuronormativity can make it harder for difference to be recognised or valued.

    A brief history

    The term emerged from the neurodiversity movement in the 2000s–2010s, as autistic, ADHD, and other neurodivergent advocates began describing the pressures of living in societies built around neurotypical norms. It’s often used in activism, research, and accessibility work to highlight hidden biases and to promote environments where multiple ways of thinking and being are understood as equally valid.

  • Ableism

    Ableism is discrimination or prejudice against disabled people. It includes attitudes, systems, and everyday practices that assume non-disabled ways of living, communicating, or moving through the world are normal or superior. It can show up in overt exclusion, but also in subtle assumptions about what people “should” be able to do, how they “should” behave, or what a “good life” looks like.

    A brief history

    The term ableism emerged within disability rights activism in the 1970s–1980s, alongside movements challenging racism, sexism, and homophobia. Activists used it to name the systemic nature of discrimination faced by disabled people — shifting focus away from individual impairments to the social, cultural, and political barriers that disable people.

    This perspective helped shape what became known as the social model of disability, reframing disability not as a personal tragedy but as a form of inequality created by inaccessible environments and exclusionary attitudes.