Understanding the Language — An Autism Glossary for Parents
The systems around autism come with a lot of jargon. This glossary explains every term in plain language.
A
- ADHD
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Frequently co-occurs with autism.
- After-school restraint collapse
- Meltdown or shutdown after school caused by the effort of masking and complying all day.
- Autism spectrum
- A spectrum of support needs and presentations — not a line from 'mild' to 'severe'. Two autistic children can look entirely different.
- Avoidance
- Avoiding tasks, places or demands. Often a response to overwhelm or anxiety, not laziness.
C
- Care component (DLA)
- The part of DLA covering help, supervision and night-time needs.
- Carer's Assessment
- A free local-authority assessment of a carer's needs under the Care Act 2014.
- Co-regulation
- Using your own calm nervous system to help your child's settle. The foundation of all child regulation.
D
- DLA
- Disability Living Allowance — a non-means-tested benefit for children under 16 with additional care or mobility needs.
E
- EBSA
- Emotionally Based School Avoidance. School refusal driven by anxiety or overwhelm, not defiance.
- EHCP
- Education, Health and Care Plan. A legal document setting out a child's SEND needs and the support required.
- Executive function
- The brain's planning, sequencing and impulse-control system. Often delayed in autism.
H
- Hypersensitivity
- Heightened response to sensory input — sound, light, texture, taste.
- Hyposensitivity
- Reduced response to sensory input. Often shown as sensory seeking.
I
- IEP
- Individual Education Plan. Used in some countries — England primarily uses SEN Support or EHCPs.
L
- Local Offer
- Every local authority's published catalogue of SEND services and support.
M
- Makaton
- Sign and symbol communication system used alongside speech, often with non-speaking children.
- Masking
- Hiding autistic traits to fit in. Common, exhausting, often invisible — especially in girls.
- Meltdown
- An involuntary response to overwhelm. Not a tantrum and not chosen behaviour.
- Mobility component (DLA)
- The part of DLA covering getting around safely outdoors.
P
- PDA
- Pathological Demand Avoidance, or Persistent Drive for Autonomy — an autism profile marked by extreme demand avoidance.
- Proprioception
- The body's sense of itself in space. Often dysregulated in autism.
R
- Restraint collapse
- See after-school restraint collapse.
S
- SALT / SLT
- Speech and Language Therapy.
- SENCO
- Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. Every school has one.
- SEND
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
- SEN Support
- School-level support that does not require an EHCP.
- Sensory diet
- An OT-designed plan of sensory inputs throughout the day to support regulation.
- Sensory processing
- How the brain receives and interprets sensory information from the body and environment.
- Shutdown
- The other side of meltdown — going silent, withdrawn, unreachable. Same root cause.
- Stimming
- Self-stimulating behaviour — rocking, flapping, repeating sounds. A regulating, healthy behaviour.
V
- Vestibular
- The sense of balance and movement, located in the inner ear.
W
- WRC
- Written Reasons for Ceasing an EHC Plan — required from the local authority if they intend to stop an EHCP.