Glossary

  • Neurotypical (NT) – A person that has a normal brain, in a neurological sense.
  • Neurodiverse (ND) – A person that has a neurological difference in their brain, e.g Autism, Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder.
  • Autistic – a developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behaviour. (Or so Google says)
  • Allistic – A person that is not autistic, but is not necessarily neurotypical.
  • Stimming – An action or repetitive behaviour used to regulate mental energy levels. See also, flap, flappy, flapping.
  • Shutdown – A mental state entered when the brain is overloaded with information, often results in non-verbality, lack of information processing and a general lethargy.
  • Meltdown – The big brother of a shutdown, occurs in the most severe cases of overload. Can result in bouts of anger, lack of emotional processing.
  • Burnout – A rare form of shutdown, occurs after repeatedly reaching points of being overexerted and ‘spoonless’.
  • Spoons – An analogy adopted for energy levels, originated from Spoon Theory.
  • ABA Therapy – Applied Behaviour Analysis. A therapy employed to make autistics appear more normal, incredibly detrimental to our health.
  • Autism Speaks – A charity claiming to be in aid of autistics, but actively encourages the use of ABA. Also the origin of the puzzle piece representation, hence negative connotations.