Demand Avoidance is used to mean the characteristic of a persistent and marked resistance to ‘the demands of everyday life’, which may include essential demands such as eating and sleeping as well as expected demands such as going to school or work. Click the link to the national autism society for more details.

A form of thinking that’s idea driven and uses models or expectations to interpret the environment along with information from past experiences to understand and interpret new sensory information. For instance, if you expect to hear a specific announcement when waiting at an airport, you are more likely to interpret overheard announcements as being that…

The Social model says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference. The social model of disability seeks to challenge power imbalances within society between differently-abled people and seeks to redefine what disability means as a diverse expression of human life. See also: Medical model.

A skill where individuals possess exceptional skills or talents (savants), usually in the areas of music, mathematics, drawing or calendrical calculations. Research has shown that around 50% of people who experience savant syndrome are Autistic.

A population of Neurodivergent people who share a similar form of neurodivergence. Examples of Neurotype groups include Autistic people and dyslexic people.

A relatively new approach in clinical, educational and working environments that aims to provide a safe and welcoming environment for Neurodivergent people. It is based on highlighting strengths, supporting needs and respecting differences, rather than the language of defects and using the prefix ‘dis’.

The Medical model or clinical model views disability as something to be cured or corrected. The Social model of disability says that disability is caused by the way society is organised. The medical model of disability says people are disabled by their impairments or differences. Under the medical model, these impairments or differences should be…

This is the term given to loops of rumination and uncertainty, or anxiety and worry, which can be really unbearable. This can be more intense and distressing to Autistic people. This is also called perseveration. 

The ability to perceive the physical state of one’s own body. This includes sensations that help us understand whether we are hot, cold, hungry, or tired. In particular, this can affect our perception of pain. See also: Alexithymia

A condition where people experience the sounds of everyday life as intrusively loud, uncomfortable or even painful.