A personal glossary for my neurodivergent brain
Finding the right words for my experiences. These are the definitions that brought me clarity and helped me understand my neurodivergent traits.
Published on [updated on ]
I have a dedicated chat with an AI assistant where I go to unpack and handle my neurodivergent struggles. It’s become a space for untangling the knots, for finding clarity in the chaos.
Out of those conversations, we built this glossary. It started as a personal reference, a user manual for understanding the unique wiring of my own brain. I’m sharing it here because finding the right words gave me a framework for feelings I couldn’t name before. It was a relief.
Maybe these words can offer a piece of that clarity to you, too.
Glossary of neurodivergent terms
- Anhedonia
- This isn’t sadness; it’s the absence of feeling. It’s the profound sense of “meh” when the things I used to love bring me no joy. For me, it feels like being in limbo, a key symptom that can show up in depression or autistic burnout. My favorite movies are boring, food is bland, and any spark of interest evaporates almost instantly. It’s the feeling of the reward system in the brain that has gone offline.
- Autistic burnout
- This is a state of complete exhaustion that comes from the accumulated stress of living in a world not built for me. It’s so much more than just being tired. It’s feeling like my brain has short-circuited. Skills I once had, like being social, suddenly disappear, often as a result of prolonged masking. Sensory sensitivities are heightened, and the need for solitude becomes overwhelming.
- Body doubling
- A surprisingly simple strategy for getting things done. It’s the act of working on a task with another person present, either physically or virtually. They don’t help or collaborate; their presence alone acts as an anchor, creating a quiet focus that helps break through the paralysis that comes with executive dysfunction.
- Emotional dysregulation
- This is when an emotional response doesn’t match the situation - at least on the outside. For me, it feels like having an emotional volume knob that goes from 0 to 11 with nothing in between. A small frustration can feel like a world-ending catastrophe. It’s a core part of how a neurodivergent brain processes feelings with high intensity. It’s exhausting to ride these emotional waves. Learning grounding techniques, like the 5-4-3-2-1 method I wrote about, is a key tool for navigating this.
- Executive dysfunction
- This is the struggle with the brain’s management system, and a core partof ADHD under the neurodivergence umbrella. I know this one well. For me it’s having a brilliant idea and feeling completely unable to implement it. It’s knowing what to do but feeling like there’s an invisible wall between me and the task. It’s the constant battle with planning, starting, and organizing.
- Masking (or Camouflaging)
- The act of consciously or unconsciously hiding neurodivergent traits to fit in. It’s performing “normalcy.” It means forcing eye contact when it’s uncomfortable, scripting conversations in my head, and suppressing the urge for stimming. It feels like playing a character all day, and it is completely, utterly draining.
- Neurodivergence (ND)
- This is simply a way of saying that a brain works differently from what society considers “typical.” It’s not a disease or a deficit. It’s a natural variation in the human brain that includes Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and more. The opposite is Neurotypical (NT).
- Stimming
- Short for self-stimulatory behavior, this is any repetitive action that helps regulate emotions. For me, it can be fidgeting with small plush toys or napkins, vaping, or more intense actions like pulling small branches from a tree, or tearing at my hair. It’s a physical way to channel restless energy or calm an overwhelmed nervous system.
- Waiting mode paralysis
- That feeling of being stuck when I’m waiting for something to happen - a call, an appointment, a delivery. I can’t relax, but I also can’t start any meaningful tasks because my brain is ‘on hold’ for the future event. This state is often a frustrating mix of anhedonia and executive dysfunction. Recently, I’ve found a way to manage this: I play a game like Disney Dreamlight Valley. It’s the perfect tool to fill that time without the pressure of a ‘real’ task.
More than labels
For me, seeing these terms defined is about finding the language for a lifetime of experiences. It was the quiet click of understanding - the relief of knowing I wasn’t alone in these feelings, that my brain wasn’t broken, just different.
If any of these words resonate with you, know that you aren’t alone, either.
A few quick questions
Are these neurodivergent terms ‘real’ or just made up?
Hah, I had this same thought. They are very real. These are terms used by researchers, therapists, and the neurodivergent community itself to describe shared, lived experiences. For me, finding out that “waiting mode paralysis” was a real thing felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. It’s not a personal failing, it’s a documented phenomenon.
Is this a complete list of all neurodivergent terms?
Not even close. This is a personal glossary. It’s just the small collection of terms that have been most meaningful to me on my journey so far. This list will grow and change as I continue to learn, and I’ll share new terms as I find them.
What if I don’t relate to these terms?
That’s perfectly okay. It could simply mean you’re neurotypical, and these specific descriptions don’t match your experience. It could also mean you are neurodivergent, but in a way that’s different from mine. Neurodivergence is a huge spectrum, and everyone’s experience is unique. These are the words that gave me a framework for my feelings. Your user manual might have completely different chapters, and that’s the whole point.