A Pocket Guide to Neurodiversity-Affirming Lingo!
available here as PDF handout
When I first became immersed in the Neurodiversity-Affirming Movement, I began reading blog posts, Facebook discussion forums, and books to get my head around all the amazing new ways of thinking about Autism/ADHD. However, I quickly realised that people in these advocacy groups had their own lingo and sub-culture. Comments included all these words which made no sense out of context like “spoons” and “Neurotypical”. I was interested in what I was reading, but I really wished that there was a pocket guide or translator for all these new words!
So, here is my attempt at making that Pocket Guide for those just beginning their journey in the world of Neurodiversity. These are terms that commonly appear in advocacy groups, books related to Neurodiversity, and other related resources:
Ableism: Like the terms “racism” or “sexism”, ableism refers to discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities, based on the belief that typical abilities are normal or superior in society. Ableism involves harmful stereotyping, misconceptions, and generalisations about people with disabilities, usually based on the assumption that disabled people require fixing to adhere to social norms. Ableism results in othering and leads to perceptions of disabled people being lesser in society.
Actually Autistic: #ActuallyAutistic is commonly used online in the Autism advocacy community. It refers to the importance of Autistic people themselves being actively involved in conversations about Autism, including in areas like funding for services, research, media representation, and more. The intent is to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience of Autism are heard.
ADHDer: Shorthand for a person with ADHD.
ADHD “tax”: The price paid for costly mistakes that are due to core symptoms of ADHD. This includes things like needing to pay late fees due to disorganisation and forgetfulness, frequently needing to replace items (e.g., headphones) due to repeatedly losing them, and much more.
ADHD Paralysis: The inability to begin or focus on essential tasks due to feelings of overwhelm. This can be a common for ADHD people due to difficulties with organisation, prioritising tasks, breaking tasks down into manageable steps, and more. This feeling of overwhelm can then lead ADHD people to actively avoid tasks, procrastinate, or experience high anxiety, thus impacting their ability to complete essential activities.
Allistic: Refers to a non-Autistic person
AuDHD/er: Autism and ADHD commonly co-occur leading to dual diagnosis. People who are both Autistic and ADHD sometimes refer to themselves as AuDHD, or an AuDHDer, online as a shorthand.
Autistic: Many people with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder prefer to use the word Autistic when describing themselves. This is referred to as Identity-First language.
Autistic Burnout: An experience of intense physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion, often accompanied by a loss of skills (e.g., ability to work, verbal abilities), that affects many Autistic people. Autistic burn out is thought to result from the cumulative effect of navigating a world designed for Neurotypical people.
Dopamine references: Online, many ADHDers refer to the neurotransmitter “Dopamine” (the chemical that allows you to feel pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation) as a way of highlighting their intense interest (or sometimes lack of interest) in certain stimuli. Research into the role of Dopamine in ADHD is ongoing, but multiple brain imaging studies have highlighted abnormalities of dopamine transmission for people with ADHD. This is thought to lead ADHDers to impulsively seek activities that produce high levels of dopamine (and avoid activities which don’t produce dopamine). Therefore, in online communities, ADHDers commonly make references to the perceived role of Dopamine in their lives. For example: “This activity does not give me Dopamine!!!” or “The Dopamine ran out!” or “This activity is giving me Dopamine!”.
Hyperfixation: When a person (particularly an ADHDer) becomes intensely engrossed or interested in something (e.g., an activity, hobby). The person may be able to focus on the activity for an extended period (known as hyperfocus) and can become completely tuned out to external stimuli. Sometimes hyperfixaton can be so intense that it is hard for the person to focus on anything else. This can lead to problems with completing other tasks or routines.
Hyperfocus: Highly focussed attention that lasts a long time. Occurs commonly during a period of hyperfixation.
Identity-first language: Identity-first language puts a person’s disability identity before reference to the person. For example, “disabled person” or “Autistic person”. Many people with disability prefer to use Identity-First language because they see their disability as a key part of who they are. Identity-First language is used to show connection to the disability community, demonstrate disability pride, and emphasise that it is society (not the disability itself) that is disabling.
Infodump: Autistic and ADHD people enjoy sharing their interests with others but often get so excited in the process that they give too much information to the listener all at once (without drawing breath!).
Interoception: The ability to feel and understand what is happening inside your body. This includes having the sense of internal sensations such as hunger, cold, heat, thirst, and more.
Masking: The term masking is most commonly used in relation to Autism. It refers to the process of Autistic people learning to perform certain behaviours, and suppress others, in order to camouflage or hide their differences. Masking is strongly associated with negative mental health outcomes for Autistic people. Constant self-monitoring and correcting behaviour is an exhausting process and leads to increased risk of burn-out. Further, Autistic people mask because they fear social rejection or other negative outcomes if they show people who they really are. This is associated with low self-esteem and increased risk of suicidal ideation.
Neurodivergent: Differing in mental or neurological function from what is considered typical or normal
Neurodiversity: The range of differences in individual brain function and behavioural traits, regarded as part of normal variation in the human population.
Neurokin/Neurotribe: Commonly used to refer to groups of people who identify as having the same Neurotype (e.g., a group of people who all identify as Autistic)
Neurotype: A type of brain, in terms of how a person interprets and responds to social cues (e.g., Autism would be one Neurotype, ADHD another etc. )
Neurotypical: Not displaying or characterised by Autistic or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behaviour.
“Nothing about us without us”: Slogan used to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without the full and direct participation of members of the group(s) affected by that policy (e.g., no policies about Autism without the direct involvement of Autistic people).
On the Spectrum: Autism is known as a “spectrum” disorder because there is wide variation in the type and impact of symptoms people experience.
Person-first language: Person-First language puts the person before their disability. For example, ‘person with disability’ or “person with Autism”. Person-First language was first used to emphasise a person’s right to an identity beyond their disability.
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria: Experiencing severe emotional pain because of failure or feeling rejected by others.
Sensory Overload: When you’re getting more input from your senses than your brain can sort through and process (very common among Autistic people).
Special Interests (AKA SpIns): Typically used in relation to Autism. It is a highly focused level of interest on particular topic/s.
Spoons: The concept of having finite units of mental energy to use each day. It is a reference to “Spoon Theory”, an idea developed by Christine Miserandino as a way to express how it feels to live with chronic illness. Christine used a bunch of spoons at a restaurant to represent units of energy that a person has each day. She used these top demonstrate to her friend how she needs to plan out her actions in advance each day so as to not run out of “spoons” (energy). Spoon Theory has since been used to describe a wide range of disabilities and mental health issues that place extra (and often unseen) burden on people living with them.
Stim/Stimming: Repetitive motor movements (including rocking, toe-walking, hand flapping, and more) that are self-regulating. Stimming is thought to provide a soothing rhythm which can support the body to regulate during periods of overstimulation (particularly due to sensory stimuli), overwhelm, and distress.
Time Blindness: The inability to sense the passing of time, particularly common among people with ADHD due to difficulties with executive functioning skills. Time blindness can make nearly every aspect of a person’s life more difficult because it impacts awareness of knowing what time it is now, how much time is left, and how quickly time is passing.