• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Weirdly Successful

Weirdly Successful

Dedicated to helping you understand, navigate and enjoy your weird & wonderful neurodivergent life.

  • The team
    • The mission
  • The Blog
  • Neurodivergent Glossary
  • Reach out!
    • Book a Curiosity Call

Autism

Written by Livia Farkas || First published: 28 June, 2023 | Last edited: 25 July, 2023 || 📚🕒 Reading Time: < 1 minutes

Autism is a neurovariety that affects how an autistic person communicates and interacts with their environment.

It is diagnostically characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and repetitive or restrictive behaviours. However, many of the traits included in the diagnostic criteria are often simply how an autistic person experiences distress when their needs are not met and they are not supported by adaptations.

Autistic socialising and communication may look different from neurotypical interactions, but the autistic way is not “worse” or “problematic”, it’s just different.

No two autistic individuals are the same and they have varied strengths and traits. Autistic individuals typically experience difficulties in understanding and responding to inferred social cues, and they may have a preference for routine, prefer direct and clear speech, and are comforted by predictability.

Many autistic folks have sensory sensitivities and struggle with executive dysfunctions.

The disabling aspects of autism can be greatly reduced by accommodations, adjustments, and creating a more accessible and less ableist society.

Can you have both Autism and ADHD?

Yes. Autism can co-occur with ADHD (often called AuDHD), and it can also overlap with other Specific Learning Difficulties.

Are autistic people intellectually disabled?

Autism is not an intellectual disability. Few autistic adults have intellectual disabilities1, but autism is highly prevalent in intellectually disabled people.

Related terms

Autistic burnout

Autistic burnout refers to a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion experienced by autistic people. It is a result of prolonged exposure to overwhelming sensory, social, and cognitive demands, often in an environment that does not accommodate their needs.

Read moreAutistic burnout

Masking

Masking is a partly unconscious effort to hide or suppress the manifestations of your neurodivergence. It is an exhausting process that many of us do to "fit in" more. Many people start to mask to avoid abuse, discrimination, bullying, harm and ableism.

Read moreMasking

Stimming

Stimming (also known as self-stimulating) is a common sensory-seeking neurodivergent behaviour. It means stimulating yourself in a repetitive manner to self-soothe, regulate, or express excitement. Stimming is common both in ADHD and autism.
Stimming movements, however, are common in all human beings. Everybody stims, whether it’s chewing the end of a pencil while you think, swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music while you’re standing in line, or swinging your legs when they can’t touch the ground.

Sensory meltdown

A feeling of immense distress, a sensory meltdown is a strong reaction to overwhelm caused by too much information, noise, sights or sounds, smells or touch.

Hyperfixation

Hyperfixation is a term often used in the context of neurodivergent individuals, particularly Autistics and ADHDers. It refers to an intense and prolonged focus on a particular subject, topic, or activity, often at the price of excluding everything else.

Executive dysfunction

Executive functions are essential, they help us make plans, stay organized, pay attention, and keep our emotions in check. It plays a big role in making decisions and adapting to new situations.

Executive dysfunction can happen when these processes have some impairment.

Emotional dysregulation

Emotional dysregulation refers to difficulty in effectively managing and controlling one’s emotions. It is characterized by intense, unpredictable, or seemingly disproportionate emotional responses that may be challenging to regulate or modulate.

When someone has difficulty regulating their emotions, they are easily overstimulated and they can get upset or overwhelmed easily. On the other hand, they can also have trouble with calming down, relaxing, or decompressing and it takes much effort to regulate their mood.

Emotional dysregulation can also lead to sleep difficulties. Creating helpful routines, focusing on self-compassion, and giving yourself space for unmasking and stimming can help with this process.

Autistic speech patterns

Autistic speech patterns refer to unique ways autistic folks communicate or use language, but these patterns can also be present throughout the neurodivergent spectrum.

Autistic speech patterns include
– echolalia (echoing what you or others say),
– palilalia (repeating your own words or phrases),
– scripting (planning what you’ll say),
– verbal stims (using words to stim)
– and vocal stims (using sounds to stim).

AuDHD

AuDHD is an unofficial term for co-occurring Autism and ADHD – it is used when someone has both conditions.

Allistic

The term allistic refers to people who are not autistic. Neurodivergent and neurotypical people can both be allistic if they are not autistic.

Alexithymia

Alexithymia is the inability to assign names to feelings, describe them to others or talk about them. It is considered a separate neuropsychological condition but has significant overlaps with autism.

This term is also known as:
Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Blogpost mentioning this term:
  • How to talk about neurodivergence in a kind way: terms & phrases to know
  • ADHD Planners: Bad advice, myths, solutions and best choices
  • How to spot if a product for ADHD is a rip-off: look out for these 10 red flags
  • Why self-compassion is more important than self-care
« Back to the Glossary
References
1↑ Epidemiology of autism in adults across age groups and ability levels Source
Previous Post:Dyscalculia
Next Post:Sensory Processing Disorder

About the Author

  • Livia Farkas

    Livia Farkas

    Livia is a Neurodivergent Adaptation Educator with a sharp sense for simplifying complex ideas. Since 2008, she's developed 294 distinct techniques catered to the needs of clients. A total of 5058 alumni have enrolled in one or more of the 8 online courses she co-developed with Adam, offering neurodivergence-inclusive frameworks for time management, goal setting, self-care for mental health, and small-business management. Her life goal is to be a walking permission slip for neurodivergent adults. In her free time, she enjoys stickers & planners, crochet & roller skates, and running around with her pet bunny Rumi.

    View all posts

Enter The Vault!

Get our research-backed, experience-validated
strategies & guides for a neurodivergent work & life
that you can adapt to what success looks like to you.

Free Resources for Neurodivergent Adults

Create a free account to get your goodies!

By signing up you allow us to send you Weirdly Successful’s newsletter with practical tips, strategies, and optional training material.
You can unsubscribe any time. Our Privacy Policy makes for a great summer reading!

Weirdly Successful is a 100% neurodivergent-run, socially conscious enterprise developing strategies & frameworks for neurodivergent adults.

  • E-mail
  • Instagram
  • Mastodon
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

DISCLAIMER: All content on this website is for informational purposes only, and does not substitute for medical advice. For medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, consult a medical professional or healthcare provider.

While we strive to represent up-to-date and scientifically accurate information, our authors are not medical professionals unless where specifically noted. All opinions are the authors’ own.

Weirdly Successful’s authors and collaborators are not liable for risks or issues
associated with using or acting upon the information on our site.

All original content Copyright © 2023 · Weirdly Successful · All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy