You're reading the Neurokindness glossary of neurodivergence terminology, developed by our friend and fellow mental health advocate, Nick Dean. This glossary was created to offer both clarity and connection for late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults navigating new language, identity, and lived experience. Some entries are clinically accurate, others are rooted in experiential wisdom, and a few are intentionally cheeky—because humor is a valid way to process and survive.

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We've labeled each term to help you navigate tone and intent:

‍📘 Clinical – Based on medical or psychological understanding

🎭 Community humor – Slang, cheeky metaphors, or relatable terms

💬 Lived experience – Based on real-life ND experiences

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A is for…

Ableism 📘 Discrimination against people with disabilities, including neurodivergent folks. Shows up as societal barriers or dismissive attitudes.

Accommodations 📘 Adjustments to environments or expectations that support cognitive, sensory, or emotional needs.

Adaption 💬 Finding creative workarounds that help you live in a world not built for your brain.

Alexithymia 📘 Difficulty identifying or describing one’s own emotions.

Anxiety 💬 Common in ND life due to sensory overload, decision fatigue, and a hyperanalytical brain.

ARFID 📘 Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, linked to sensory sensitivities, anxiety, or texture aversions in particular foods.

Auditory processing issues 📘 Challenges interpreting sound despite typical hearing ability.

Avoidance 💬 Often misinterpreted as laziness, but usually rooted in overwhelm, executive dysfunction, or fear of failure.

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B is for…

Behaviors 💬 ND traits like stimming, infodumping, or hyperfocus—often mislabeled as ‘symptoms.’

Black and white thinking 📘 Seeing things as all good or all bad, often linked to cognitive rigidity or emotional intensity.

Body-doubling 💬 Staying on task by having another person present—even virtually. A common ND strategy for focus.

Brain fog 💬 A foggy, unclear state of mind common during sensory overload, fatigue, or burnout.

Burnout 💬 Exhaustion from masking, overworking, or navigating inaccessible systems.

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C is for…

Comorbid & co-current 📘 Additional diagnoses that exist alongside a primary condition. Co-current means they occur together; comorbid implies interaction.

Camouflaging 💬 Soft-masking or mimicking neurotypical norms to blend in, often at the cost of authenticity.

Chronic fatigue 💬 Persistent tiredness unrelated to sleep, often driven by constant sensory or social demands.

Cognitive overload 💬 Too many inputs at once—leads to shutdown, paralysis, or emotional flooding.

Communication 💬 Includes scripting, blunt honesty, infodumping, or nonverbal cues—not always typical, but always valid.

Coaching 📘 Strengths-based support for executive function, life goals, and neurodivergent self-advocacy.

Counseling 📘 Therapeutic support for navigating emotional overwhelm, trauma, and self-understanding.

Character strengths 💬 Traits like empathy, creativity, and innovation—often seen in spades in ND folks.

Community (peer-to-peer) 💬 Spaces where neurodivergent people support each other without judgment.

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D is for…

Delayed Processing 💬 Needing extra time to process emotions or cues.

Demand avoidance 💬 Involuntary resistance to expectations or demands.

Dopamine 📘 Affects motivation, emotion, and focus in ND brains.

Dissociation 💬 Disconnection from surroundings due to overwhelm.

Divergently 💬 A supportive platform and social safety net for late-diagnosed neurodivergent women, offering tools, community, and affirming resources to help navigate identity, overwhelm, and healing.

Dysregulation 💬 Difficulty managing sensory or emotional states.

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E is for…

Echolalia 📘 Repetition of words or phrases as processing or expression.

Education and learning 📘 Often requires alternative approaches and accommodations.

Emotional dysregulation 📘 Difficulty managing intense emotions.

Emotional processing 💬 Nonlinear or intense emotional patterns.

Emotional re-regulation 💬 Strategies to return to balance (e.g., stimming, breathing).

Empathy 💬 Often experienced deeply or expressed differently.

Executive dysfunction 📘 Trouble organizing or initiating tasks.

Extraordinary 💬 Traits like hyperfocus and intuition that shine in ND brains.

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F is for…

Fatigue (Sensory, Social, Cognitive) 💬 Exhaustion from internal or external stimuli.

Feeling seen 💬 Being understood and validated.

Food sensitivities 📘 Challenges with textures or flavors.

Fawning 📘 People-pleasing as a trauma response.

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G is for…

Gaslighting (medical & social) 📘 Dismissal of lived experiences.

God mode 🎭 State of intense, productive flow.

Grief 💬 Often follows diagnosis and identity shift.

Guilt 💬 Common from masking, meltdowns, or emotional labor.

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H is for…

Harmful internalized beliefs 💬 Negative self-perceptions from undiagnosed life.

Hoarding 💬 Emotional or sensory attachment to objects.

Hormones 📘 Fluctuations can worsen ND symptoms.

Hyperfixation 💬 Deep focus that blocks out everything else.

Hyperfocus 💬 Intense immersion in tasks or interests.

Hypersensitivity / hyposensitivity 📘 Extreme or muted sensory responses.

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I is for…

Inertia 💬 Trouble starting or transitioning between tasks.

Intersection 📘 Multiple identities influencing lived experience.

Interoception 📘 Difficulty sensing internal cues (e.g., hunger, pain).

Information overload 💬 Too much input leads to cognitive shutdown.

Insomnia 💬 A busy brain resisting rest.

Info dumping 💬 Passionate sharing of detailed interest.

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J is for…

Jargon 📘 Clinical language that can create barriers.

‍Journaling 💬 Tool for self-tracking and emotional clarity.

Justice sensitivity 💬 Strong reactions to perceived injustice.

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K is for…

Kindness to self 💬 Essential for recovery and resilience.

Kinetic learning 📘 Learning best through movement and doing.

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L is for…

Late diagnosis 💬 Leads to relief, grief, and new identity.

Liminal space 💬 The in-between of unlearning and discovery.

Looping thoughts 💬 Repetitive mental cycles of thought.

Low dopamine 📘 Leads to motivation and task-initiation struggles.

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M is for…‍

‍Masking 💬 Suppressing or hiding neurodivergent traits to appear more neurotypical—often unconscious and exhausting.

Meltdown 📘 An intense, involuntary response to sensory or emotional overwhelm, often resulting in crying, yelling, or shutdown.

Mental Load 💬 The invisible, often unshared burden of planning, remembering, and managing life tasks—can lead to burnout, especially for ND women.

Misdiagnosis 📘 When neurodivergent traits are misunderstood and labeled as something else—often anxiety, depression, or personality disorders.

Monotropism 📘 A theory suggesting ND brains focus deeply on one thing at a time, helping explain hyperfocus and difficulty task-switching.

Multitasking 💬 Often challenging due to executive dysfunction, cognitive load, or a preference for deep, focused attention.

Mutual Aid 💬 A community-based practice of exchanging support and resources, often used in ND and disability spaces to meet needs collectively.

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N is for…

Neuroaffirming 📘 Respecting ND experiences without aiming to fix them.

Neuroaffirming spaces 📘 Environments that accommodate ND needs.

Navigating relationships 💬 Can be challenging due to communication differences, sensory needs, or differing expectations.

Noise-sensitivity📘 Heightened or painful responses to sound—can lead to overwhelm, shutdown, or irritability.

Nervous system 📘 Often hyper-responsive in ND individuals, requiring regulation strategies like stimming, deep pressure, or downtime.

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O is for…

Object permanence 💬 Forgetting things out of sight or mind.

Overwhelm 💬 Sensory, social, or cognitive overload.

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P is for…

Paralysis 💬 Stuck due to anxiety or overload.

Pattern recognition 💬 Deep ability to see connections.

Peeling the onion 🎭 Discovering your true self through layers.

People pleasing 💬 Rooted in fear of rejection.

Permission 💬 To set boundaries and honor your needs.

Perseveration 📘 Repetitive focus on a thought or activity.

‍Procrastination 💬 Often driven by executive dysfunction.

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Q is for…

Questioning self identity 💬 Common after discovering ND traits.

Quiet neurodivergence 💬 Internalized struggles, subtle symptoms and signs. Often missed; especially in high-masking individuals.

Quirky 💬 A lighthearted term sometimes used to describe neurodivergent traits that stand out as unique, unconventional, or socially unexpected—often a reframing of difference with pride or affection. A term frequently used to describe undiagnosed neurodivergent children, teens and adults.

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R is for…

Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria 📘 Intense reaction to rejection or criticism.

Relief to grief pipeline 💬 The emotional journey people typically go through following a late-diagnosis

Routine 💬 Essential for some, restrictive for others.

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S is for…

Saboteurs 💬 Internal beliefs or patterns that block progress.

Self advocacy 💬 Speaking up for ND needs.

Self compassion 💬 Meeting yourself with kindness.

Self identity 💬 Defining worth outside of social norms.

Self medicating 📘 Coping via substances or behaviors.

Sensory overload 📘 Overwhelm from too much input.

Sidequest 🎭 Tangents driven by hyperfocus or curiosity.

Social fatigue 💬 Drained from navigating social norms.

Somatic 📘 Body-based responses to emotion or input.

Special interests 💬 Deep passions that bring joy.

Stimming 📘 Repetitive actions for self-regulation.

Success enablers 💬 Traits or structures that support thriving.

Superpower 🎭 Unique strengths rooted in ND wiring.

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T is for…

Task switching fatigue 📘 Exhaustion from changing focus.

Therapy 📘 Tailored support for emotional and sensory challenges.

Therapy modalities 📘 IFS, EMDR, somatic, schema therapy.

Time blindness 📘 Difficulty perceiving or tracking time.

Time collapse 💬 Feeling like time has vanished.

Trauma and neurodivergence 📘 ND traits and trauma often overlap.

Titration (of meds) 📘 Adjusting dosage for best effect.

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U is for…

Unmasking 💬 Letting go of neurotypical performances.

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V is for…

Validation 💬 Confirming your experience is real and valid.

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W is for…

Weighted blankets 📘 Tool for calming sensory systems.

Workplace accommodations 📘 Modifications to support ND workers.

Workplace challenges 💬 Inaccessible environments or expectations.

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X is for…

X-Ray vision 🎭 Deep insight or pattern spotting.

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Y is for…

Yearning for understanding 💬 Wanting acceptance without needing to mask.

Years lost (and found) 💬 Grieving time spent misunderstood.

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Z is for…

Zero f**ks given 🎭 Prioritizing authenticity over social norms.

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Look at you, reading all the way to Z! 

Give yourself a pat on the back. You now know more about neurodivergence than 99% of people (that’s not an official stat, so don’t quote us on that 😉).