Autism
16 terms
Alexithymia
Difficulty identifying and describing one’s own emotions; common in autistic people and others.
Allistic
A neutral term for people who are not autistic.
AuDHD
A community shorthand for people who are both autistic and have ADHD.
Autistic Burnout
A state of intense physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion experienced by autistic people.
Autistic Meltdown
An involuntary state of overwhelming distress in which an autistic person temporarily loses the ability to self-regulate, often resulting in crying, shouting, pacing, or other intense behaviors.
Autistic Shutdown
An involuntary response to overload where an autistic person becomes very quiet or unresponsive, withdrawing to protect themselves and reduce input.
Demand Avoidance (contextualized)
Strong avoidance of demands, often increasing with perceived loss of autonomy, novelty, or uncertainty.
Double Empathy Problem
Autistic and non‑autistic people both struggle to understand each other—not just autistic people struggling.
Executive Dysfunction
Difficulties with a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control.
Infodumping
Enthusiastically sharing a large amount of information about a special interest at one time.
Monotropism
A theory that autistic attention tends to focus deeply on a small number of interests at a time, shaping perception, learning, and overwhelm.
Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)
A contested profile of autism describing extreme avoidance of everyday demands, often linked to anxiety and a strong need for autonomy.
Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)
A profile within the autism spectrum characterized by extreme avoidance of everyday demands, driven by anxiety and a strong need for autonomy/control.
Sensory Processing Disorder
A condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses.
Special Interest
An intense, focused passion for a specific subject, often a hallmark of autism.
Transition Difficulty
Struggles moving from one activity, environment, or mindset to another.