Neuro-Affirming Language &

Avoiding the Harm of Neurodiversity-Lite

 

Discovering that your child is Autistic, an ADHD’er, a PDA’er, Dyslexic or otherwise neurodivergent can be overwhelming for parents and carers. You may suddenly feel you are entering a new world filled with jargon and unfamiliar language. It can be even more confusing if you receive conflicting advice when trying to understand your child’s needs and establish what will to be helpful and not cause harm or distress.  

We all want the best for our children and moving towards being ‘neuro-affirming’ is one way of ensuring your child has the best start, that their well-being is supported and that their natural identity is accepted, understood and honoured. It goes deeper than just the language we use but that is a good place to start. 

Why is there conflict over what language to use about autism and Autistic people? 

Until recently, most of wider society’s knowledge about autism has been created by non-autistic people through the lens of the pathology paradigm and the medical model and those perspectives have driven language choice. Autism has been framed as a ‘disorder’ or ‘condition’ people ‘have’ – a fault or error that if fixed would leave an otherwise ‘normal’ person. Remedies for such faults have been wide ranging but mostly focused on changing Autistic people to adopt neuro-normative ways of being to better fit into society. Parents, carers and professionals have been led to believe that interventions such as social cognition or social skills training, Applied Behaviour Analysis or ‘ABA’ and other behaviourist approaches are helpful, supportive, even necessary. 

Sadly, many people do not understand the harm these approaches can cause. 

When considering language ‘harm’ is certainly a powerful word. Unfortunately, it is the right one to choose.  

We do not believe that parents, carers and professionals intend to harm – quite the opposite in fact – but it is happening as a tragic result of knowledge about being Autistic being created by the wrong people.  

Thankfully things are changing! Slowly but surely Autistic people and allies are changing the narrative.  

What is ‘neuro-affirming’ language? 

It can take a lot of un-learning to understand why and how we need a shift towards being neuro-affirming.  If we adopt a neuro-affirming approach, we can honour Autistic experiences, Autistic identity and validate everyone’s unique ways of being. Being neuro-affirming offers a chance for people to share their own stories, rather than have others do that for them, for us all to listen to each other and collaborate to meet everyone’s needs. It allows a shift away from fixing or changing the Autistic person to thinking of ways we can try to support, in particular – ways to change the environment to meet needs (Beardon, 2017). Being neuro-affirming is about shifting your beliefs and your actions – moving away those from deficit and pathology – and quite naturally when we change the perspectives, language follows.  
 
It is helpful when considering a move towards being ‘neuro-affirming’ to understand the Neurodiversity Paradigm (Walker, 2021):   

“The Neurodiversity Paradigm is a perspective that understands, accepts and embraces everyone’s differences. Within this theory, it is believed there is no single ‘right’ or ‘normal’ neurotype, just as there is no single right or normal gender or race. It rejects the medical model of seeing differences as deficits.” (Edgar, 2023)   

Nick Walker expands on this idea in far more detail in the book, Neuroqueer Heresies and on her website.   

Person first vs. identity first language… 

Using identity-first language is one way of being neuro-affirming as many feel it honours the lived experience and identity of Autistic people and reframes the narrative away from the medical model towards the neurodiversity paradigm – and thus a humanistic way of understanding people. Therefore, using ‘Autistic person’ instead of a ‘person who has Autism’ or ‘on the spectrum’ is important and we believe this can support a person’s well-being. 

Importantly though, every Autistic person should have free choice to use whatever language best describes their own personal experience, beliefs and identity. Consider asking ‘do you prefer me to use identity-first or person-first language?’ or listening and then following their lead. However, we would encourage anyone to default to identity-first language if they are unsure of a person’s preference.  

Neurodiversity-lite (Neumeier, 2018)  

Sadly, there are times when language shifts without the necessary shift in knowledge and belief.   Particularly when engaging with professionals, it is important to be aware of neurodiversity-lite as harmful beliefs and approaches still underpin what may otherwise seem to be an affirming approach and that can cause harm. 
 
Here are some signs to look out for: 

• Language: ‘ASD’ or referring to someone as ‘neurodiverse’, person-first rather than identity first language;  
• Refers to research on deficit-based theories of autism e.g. Theory of Mind (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985);  
• Promoting neurotypical social communication e.g. ‘social skills’ and neuro-normative ways of being;  
• Uses aspects of the diagnostic manual descriptions of autism without critique (Roberts, 2021); 
• Uses or encourages parents/carers/professionals to use behaviourist approaches where the focus is on changing the young person and their outward often through compliance-based approaches – reward / punishment / correction / shame / fear / cohesion. With behaviourism little focus is given to environment change that isn’t more or less punishment, modelling of ‘expected’ behaviours, reminders of rules, extrinsic motivation through rewards and so on and little or no responsibility for the environment being the cause of difficulty i.e. unmet needs, triggered stress response (Armstrong, 2018). 

 Here are some excellent sources to further understand neurodiversity-lite: 

• ‘To Siri With Love’ and the Problem With Neurodiversity Lite; 
• Simon Baron-Cohen, Neurodiversity-lite, and the History of Eugenic Thought | Critical Neurodiversity;
• Performative Neurodiversity – the appropriation and watering down of a Human Rights Movement for profit – Therapist Neurodiversity Collective.

Back to language… 

Below is a neuro-affirming glossary – we hope this will help you navigate and advocate for your young person using neuro-affirming language.   

Glossary

Alexithymia: difficulties identifying, understanding and expressing your emotions or those of others. 

Autism:  there is no single definition of ‘autism’ and seeking to define it as a ‘thing’ is what the medical model and pathology paradigm aims to do. Instead, it can be much more helpful and accurate to focus on what ‘being Autistic’ means to each person.   

Autistic people are a minority group who experience and respond to the world differently to non-autistic people and tend to share a lot of those experiences with one another.  

This might include: social interaction, communication and sensory and cognitive processing.  

Autistic experiences and needs are fluid and will change depending on the impact of the environment and other people.  

Autistic people will also experience and respond to the world according to their unique, intersectional identity too.  

There is no single way to ‘be Autistic’ as there is no single way to ‘be human’.  

Autistic Burnout:  a period of intense sensory, social, emotional and physical overwhelm which results in exhaustion and difficulties with executive functioning, memory, attention, and a change of capacity to communicate and regulate sensory input. It is brought on by long periods of unmet needs. Autistic burnout can lead to anxiety, depression and other mental health difficulties.  

Executive Functioning: skills that include the ability to manage yourself, plan, organise and carry out tasks to achieve a intended outcome. 

Hypersensitivity: an intense / heightened response to sensory stimuli, to the point it could feel painful or very uncomfortable (e.g., light/sound/taste/taste/touch /smell/movement).* 

Hyposensitivity:  a lower response to sensory stimuli, to the point of being unaware for some people (e.g., light /sound/taste/touch/smell/movement).* 

*Take care with both these terms though as they can suggest there is a ‘right’ or ‘correct’ way to respond to the sensory world and that the Autistic person’s response is somehow faulty. The use of this language may evolve over time, therefore. 

Info-dumping: an extended monologue often related to the Autistic person sharing their deep knowledge and enthusiasm for their special interest(s). 

Interoception: relates to a person’s ability to understand and interpret internal body signals and sensations. If you have difficulties with interoceptive awareness, you may not know if you are hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, need the toilet, or in pain. 

Intersectionality: Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, the term intersectionality conceptualises how an individual’s various identities ‘intersect’ to create unique experiences of oppression or privilege. Here is a great article to dive deeper: Why Intersectionality is Important in Understanding Autism – Emergent Divergence. 

Masking: the act of consciously or unconsciously suppressing one’s authentic Autistic identity and needs in an attempt to fit into the social norms of the people around you. Masking is detrimental to mental health over a long period of time. It is important to acknowledge that some Autistic people have to mask for safety. 

Meltdown:  a nervous-system response to experiencing more that a person can manage. It can look similar to a ‘tantrum’ or ‘losing control’. If an Autistic person is experiencing a meltdown, they will need time to rest, regulate and recover in a way that is right for them. 
 
Monotropism:  “a neurodiversity affirming theory of autism” (Murray et al., 2005). Autistic /ADHD/ AuDHD people are more likely to be monotropic (Garau et al., 2023). Monotropic people have an interest based nervous system. This means they focus more of their attention resources on fewer things at any one time compared to other people who may be polytropic. Things outside an attention tunnel may get missed and moving between attention tunnels can be difficult and take a lot of energy. Monotropism can have a positive and negative impact on sensory, social and communication needs depending on the environment, support provided and how a person manages their mind and body”. (Community Definition of Monotropism collated by Helen Edgar, 2024) 

Neurodiverse: the world is ‘neurodiverse’; an individual cannot be.  

Neurodiversity: neurodiversity is natural and valuable. When we use the term ‘neurodiversity’, we refer to the diversity of human brains and minds and recognises everybody’s differences in a value-neutral way: “diversity of human minds, the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species”. Neurodiversity itself it just biological fact! (Walker, 2021)  

• Read more about the origin of neurodiversity as a concept here: The neurodiversity concept was developed collectively: An overdue correction on the origins of neurodiversity theory – Monique Botha, Robert Chapman, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, Steven K Kapp, Abs Stannard Ashley, Nick Walker, 2024 
• See more here: Walker, 2014: https://neuroqueer.com/neurodiversity-terms-and-definitions and work by Lived Experience Educator, Sonny Jane Wise. 

Neurodivergent: an individual is ‘neurodivergent’ if they diverge from the dominant societal standards of ‘normal’ (Asasumasu, 2000s; Walker, 2021). Some people may describe themselves as multiply neurodivergent, e.g., Autistic, ADHD and OCD. The term ‘neurodivergent’ was never intended to be anything other than value-neutral term. It is important it is not used as a synonymn for Autistic / ADHD.* 

*A note on GROVE’s use of ‘neurodivergent’: As mentioned, ‘neurodivergent’ isn’t a synonym for being Autistic and ADHD despite often being used that way.  GROVE currently works with Autistic young people, but we don’t use ‘neurodivergent’ to replace this – we are just a fledgling organisation with big hopes to expand to support otherwise neurodivergent young people. If we get to a point of deciding that our focus will remain solely on Autistic young people, then we will change our name to reflect this. 

Neurodiversity Paradigm: the neurodiversity paradigm gives us a perspective, framework or model with which to really understand the principles of neurodiversity – foundations from which we can grow in any combination of understanding, knowledge or practice. It gives us reason and a way to reject the pathology paradigm (read more about what the pathology paradigm means here).  

It is important to note that neurodiversity paradigm doesn’t invalidate the very real disablement and difficulty that can arise from being Autistic – either from living in a predominantly non-autistic world (which if you are interested in understanding disability models more would be the social model) or indeed from the combination of that and the person experience depending on the perspective on the Autistic person (you could look to the social-relational model to understand this more). And it certainly isn’t about denying support – quite the opposite in fact. It necessitates very careful examination of how belief, structures and practice in environments actively disable neurodivergent people and highlights that society has a responsibility for changing that rather than changing the person.  Additionally, it isn’t about accepting everything that is written in diagnostic manuals and adding in some ‘strengths’, rather it is about a fundamental shift in perspectives and practice. It stops any possibility of framing people who require support as inherently wrong (Wise, 2023).  

The neurodiversity paradigm crucially acknowledges “the social dynamics that manifest in regard to neurodiversity are similar to the social dynamics that manifest in regard to other forms of human diversity (e.g., diversity of ethnicity, gender, or culture). These dynamics include the dynamics of social power inequalities, and also the dynamics by which diversity, when embraced, acts as a source of creative potential.” (Walker, 2021)  

See Nick Walker’s work for further detail. 

Neurodiversity Movement: social justice movement driving forward the ethos of the neurodiversity paradigm.  

Neurotypical: often used to describe people that are not neurodivergent. Alternative terms are neuro-majority and also predominant neurotype / ‘PNT’ as coined by Luke Beardon. 

Neurodiversity-affirming: full commitment to the ideas underpinned by the neurodiversity paradigm and actions of the neurodiversity movement. 

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): refers to an intense emotional response related to actual or perceived rejection and heightened sensitivity to criticism / any negative reaction. 

Sensory Overload: the feeling of overwhelm due to sensory input, which outweighs what the mind and body are capable of processing at that moment. It can lead to burnout, meltdowns and shutdowns and takes time to recover from. 

Sensory Avoidance: intentionally withdrawing from sensory experiences that don’t make the person feel good or is uncomfortable / painful. 

Sensory Seeking: intentionally seeking sensory experiences that are pleasant / make the person feel good.  

Situational Mutism: a person’s inability to produce speech in certain contexts. 

Shutdown: a response to stress, sensory, social, or communication overload that may result in a person’s inability to communicate, engage in activities, or complete executive function tasks. The senses may be heightened or lowered. 

Special interest or ‘SPIN’: some prefer ‘passionate or dedicated interest’ – whichever we use, for Autistic person interests can bring great joy and be the source of monotropic flow states (single channels of thought, which is a natural state for an Autistic mind). Engaging in interests provides opportunities for Autistic people to regulate, gain deep knowledge or skills in a certain activity/topic and can be a good opportunity to socialise and communicate with others who may share the same interest. 

Stimming: repetitive behaviours and activities that help to regulate the mind and body.  

Thank you for reading!

Although this glossary is not comprehensive we hope it is helpful in providing you with an overview of some key, neuro-affirming vocabulary.*  

Written by: Helen Edgar (GROVE Education, Training & Resource Specialist). You can also find Helen’s work on her site Autistic Realms.

Edited by: Jess Garner (GROVE’s Founder/Director).

March 2025

*You can find an expanded glossary in Helen Edgar’s booklet: Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary, available on Amazon and this has further information and signposting (originally written for The PDA Space Summit)  

References:  

• Armstrong, D. (2018) Addressing the wicked problem of behaviour in schools, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22:9, 997-1013, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2017.1413732 
• Asasumasu , K. (2000s) https://sherlocksflataffect.tumblr.com/post/121295972384/psa-from-the-actual-coiner-of-neurodivergent 
• Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a “theory of mind” ? Cognition, 21(1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8
• Beardon, L. (2022). What works for Autistic Children. Sheldon Press   
• Edgar, H. (2023). Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary Created for The PDA Space Summit 2023 Edition. Amazon. 
• Garau, V., Murray, A. L., Woods, R., Chown, N., Hallett, S., Murray, F., Wood, R. & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2023), Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire, [Pre-print], https://osf.io/ft73y/ 
• Kenny, L., Hattersley, C., Molins, B., Buckley, C., Povey, C., & Pellicano, E. (2015). Which terms should be used to describe Autism? Perspectives from the UK Autism community. Autism, 20(4), 442–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361315588200    
• Milton, D. E. (2012). On the ontological status of Autism: the ‘double empathy problem.’ Disability & Society, 27(6), 883–887. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008  
• Roberts, J (2021). Performative Neurodiversity – the appropriation and watering down of a Human Rights Movement for profit – Therapist Neurodiversity Collective.
• Wise, S. (2023) We’re All Neurodiverse, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 
• Walker, N. (2021). Neuroqueer heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities.