Alexithymia is difficulty assigning names to feelings, describing them to others or talking about them. It is considered a separate neuropsychological condition but has significant overlaps with autism.

Related Terms
Interoception is the ability to notice and identify feelings inside one's body, like thirst or hunger. It also includes the ability to notice and regulate temperature changes or notice pain.
Learn moreSensory processing difficulties are a group of traits associated with neurodivergence. They're part of the wider group of sensory processing differences, meaning all the ways neurodivergent brains handle sensory information differently from neurotypical peers. Any of the brain's 8 sensory processing systems can be affected by processing difficulties.
Learn moreSensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a potential grouping of sensory processing difficulties. As individual sensory processing difficulties are spread across a wide range of diagnoses, SPD is often used as a shorthand to describe significant neurodivergence-related sensory issues that are persistent in a person's life and limit their participation in everyday life, regardless of what diagnosis they would officially belong to.
Learn moreA feeling of immense distress, a sensory overwhelm / autistic overwhelm is a strong reaction to stimuli caused by the compounded effects of stress, exhaustion, lack of safety, a sense of danger, unmet needs, too much information, noise, sights or sounds, smells or touch.
Learn moreJustice sensitivity is the heightened awareness of rule violations and inconsistencies, paired with an intense emotional and physiological response. For many neurodivergent people, fairness and consistency function as essential navigational tools when you can't reliably read social cues or predict what will happen next. When rules are applied inconsistently or stated expectations don't match actual consequences, your nervous system registers this as a genuine threat to your ability to navigate the world safely. The intensity of your reaction reflects the pattern violation itself, regardless of the moral weight of the situation. Justice sensitivity is morally neutral—it tells you when a rule has been violated, but not whether the rule was good or fair in the first place.
Learn moreRestriction means being prevented from moving freely or being confined against your will. It can include being held down, trapped, or having your movement controlled by others. This is particularly important for neurodivergent people, who have historically faced harmful practices where restriction was used to stop stimming, force compliance, or 'manage' sensory overload.
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