Weirdly Successful
Dedicated to helping you understand, navigate and enjoy your weird & wonderful neurodivergent life.
Hi! This is the one-page index of Weirdly Successful's Neurodivergent Glossary!
See below for short definitions of all our current glossary items in alphabetical order, with links to each item.
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Note: No definitions are final. This is a live glossary that we update periodically, so all entries are subject to change as we improve our definitions over time.
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Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with physical or mental disabilities. In an ableist society, it’s assumed that the “normal” way to live is as a non-disabled person and that every disabled person needs to or wants to “get rid of” their condition.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a lifelong, hereditary neurological condition. A person with ADHD can be inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive in their internal mental processes as well as their outward presentation.
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is the previous name of the condition and officially hasn't been in use since 1987.
ADHD paralysis is a form of executive dysfunction.
It refers to the difficulty in initiating, continuing, or completing tasks, even when the person understands the urgency and importance, and also has the ability to do the task. ADHD paralysis can be triggered by various factors, including overwhelm, anxiety, or the perceived complexity of a task.
ADHD tax is a casual term used to describe the additional costs, both tangible and intangible, that ADHD individuals often face due to their neurodivergence, especially struggles due to executive dysfunction.
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.
The term allistic refers to people who are not autistic. Neurodivergent and neurotypical people can both be allistic if they are not autistic.
ARFID stands for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. It is characterized by highly selective eating habits, often to the point of nutritional deficiency. Unlike anorexia or bulimia, ARFID is not driven by concerns about body image or weight. Instead, it's typically related to sensory sensitivity, fear of adverse consequences (like choking or vomiting), or a lack of interest in eating.
AuDHD is an unofficial term for co-occurring Autism and ADHD - it is used when someone has both conditions.
Auditory stimming is a form of self-stimulatory behaviour that involves making sounds with your voice, whether through non-word vocalisations (vocal stimming) or speech-based expressions (verbal stimming). This natural and beneficial form of self-expression helps with emotional regulation, sensory processing, and achieving a sense of comfort and focus.
Autism is a lifelong, highly heritable neurodevelopmental condition characterised by a brain that processes information more deeply and through fewer channels at once — producing differences in sensory experience, pattern recognition, social communication, and the need for predictability. Autistic people are born autistic. Many autistic adults are identified late in life because their coping strategies, developed over decades without support, can mask the traits that assessors look for. Autism is not an intellectual disability, not a social deficit, and not something a person grows out of — it is a different neurological operating system that has always been there.
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.
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).
Body doubling means doing a task or errand with someone else or in the presence of someone else so it's easier to start or follow through.
Their supportive presence helps create a safe, anchoring environment that makes it easier to start and follow through with tasks -- without pressure or judgment.
It is one of the strategies for managing focus and creating a flow for work, even if you feel lost and overwhelmed by executive dysfunction.
Co-occurrence means that certain neurodivergent traits and conditions naturally tend to appear together. When you're neurodivergent in one way, you're more likely to experience other forms of neurodivergence too - research shows this happens in up to 70% of cases. These patterns extend beyond just neurodevelopmental differences to include physical health and mental health experiences. Understanding co-occurrence is vital because it helps explain how different aspects of neurodivergence connect, leading to better self-understanding and more effective support. While traditional healthcare often treats conditions separately, recognizing these natural connections can transform how you advocate for your needs and access appropriate care.
Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used at any given time.
For neurodivergent people, activities that others might find automatic (like maintaining expected facial expressions or processing background noise) can significantly increase cognitive load.
Context switching refers to the cognitive process of shifting attention between different tasks or mental states. It involves disengaging from one task and engaging in another, requiring the brain to change its focus, rules, and objectives.
This process can be mentally taxing due to the cognitive load involved in stopping one task and starting another, shifting gears to focus on the new task, and getting accustomed to the new situation with all its stimuli. Frequent context switching and jumping from task to task can lead to a decrease in productivity and efficiency.
The curb-cut effect refers to the phenomenon that policies initially created to serve a marginalized group end up serving a much more significant portion of society, benefiting even more people than it was originally designed for.
Decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decision-making after a long period of decision-making activity. It means you feel mentally exhausted from making too many choices.
Decompressing refers to engaging in activities or behaviours that allow a person to relax, unwind, and alleviate stress or sensory overload.
This term is particularly significant in the neurodivergent community as we often experience heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli, leading to increased stress and anxiety levels.
Making sure to have time to decompress after especially taxing events is an essential part of self-care.
Deep pressure is a natural sensory need where firm, consistent pressure (like heavy blankets or tight hugs) helps tension melt away from your body. Many people naturally seek this through things like snug clothing or curling up under blankets - it's your nervous system's way of finding calm and comfort.
Demand avoidance means appearing opposed to doing something when it's perceived as a demand, especially from an authority figure - even if you actually want to do the thing. While it may look like defiance or stubbornness to others, it's actually an involuntary self-preservation response triggered by threats to autonomy. This response happens automatically, not as a conscious decision to be difficult.
Diagnostic criteria are prerequisites for a diagnosis: in the case of neurodivergence, they are the presentations and traits an assessor is looking for when diagnosing a person with a neurodivergent condition.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in many different functions, including movement, motivation, reward, and pleasure. It is one of the most important neurotransmitters you have to get to know if you want to understand ADHD better.
A brain network where dopamine travels, affecting motivation and reward, but also pain and many other functions.
The double empathy problem is a concept in neurodiversity studies that suggests a mutual misunderstanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.
Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty where a person has difficulty with numbers and mathematics in general.
Dysgraphia is a learning difficulty characterized by difficulties in writing, handwriting, and spelling. It is a condition that affects the ability to accurately and efficiently express thoughts or ideas through writing. Individuals with dysgraphia may struggle with letter formation, organizing thoughts coherently on paper, maintaining consistent spacing and alignment, and spelling.
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty. A dyslexic person with has difficulty with literacy skills and retaining information.
Developmental Coordination Disorder is a neurological condition that affects motor skills and coordination. People with DCD can have trouble with balancing, or tasks that require fine motor skills like tying shoelaces, holding pens or cutlery.
Echolalia is a speech pattern where individuals repeat words, phrases, or sounds they have heard. Common in autism, it serves various purposes, including communication, language processing, and emotional expression. Echolalia can be immediate (repeating something just heard) or delayed (using stored phrases from past experiences), and is a valid form of communication that helps many autistic people express themselves and interact with others.
Emotional dysregulation is the inability to regulate the intensity and quality of emotions in order to generate an appropriate emotional response and return to an emotional baseline.
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.
From the outside, it might look like overreacting. From the inside, it feels like your nervous system is overwhelmed by emotional information your brain is struggling to process and modulate.
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 a difference or impairment that affects everyday life.
Fidgeting involves small, often unconscious movements—bouncing your leg, tapping your fingers, clicking a pen, doodling, twirling your hair. These movements help regulate focus and discharge energy, particularly for people with ADHD. Fidgeting provides the sensory input your brain needs to stay alert and engaged, especially during tasks that don't provide enough stimulation on their own. It's about maintaining the right level of arousal (alertness) to concentrate or releasing restless energy when big movements aren't possible.
Flat affect is an autistic speech pattern that can include fewer facial expressions, reduced eye contact and speech that others might describe as 'monotone'. While these might be be interpreted as diminished emotional response, they actually reflect a different way of processing and expressing emotions. The intensity can vary with stress or cognitive load, and it often indicates deep focus rather than disinterest.
Habituation is a biological reaction mechanism where if a non-threatening stimuli keeps repeating, the response to it lowers over time. In neurodivergence, the brain's reduced capacity for habituation means we can't "tune out" unimportant stimuli, which leads to sensory difficulties and sensory overwhelm.
High-masking refers to a person who is able to mask so efficiently that they ‘pass’ as neurotypical. High-masking is often one of the reasons women go undiagnosed – unfortunately, many assessors completely ignore masking and dismiss the experience of the individual.
Hyperactive Type is one of the ADHD subtypes. Hyperactivity can present in physical and mental symptoms. Hyperactive traits include fidgeting and other sensory-seeking behaviours, interrupting others when they talk or finishing their sentences for them, impulsive actions and thrill-seeking behaviour (with a reduced sense of danger), having many ideas and blurting them out.
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.
Hyperfocus is a cognitive state characterized by an intense concentration and absorption in a particular task or activity to the point of excluding or neglecting other stimuli or responsibilities.
Hypersensitivity, also known as sensory over-responsivity, is a condition characterized by an extreme sensitivity or heightened response to sensory stimuli from the environment. Individuals with hypersensitivity may have a seemingly exaggerated reaction to various sensory inputs, such as sound, touch, taste, smell, or visual stimuli. These sensitivities can result in discomfort, distress, or even pain, …
Hyposensitivity, also known as sensory underresponsivity, is a condition characterized by a reduced sensitivity or diminished response to sensory stimuli from the environment.
Individuals with hyposensitivity may have difficulty with detecting or processing sensory inputs, such as sound, touch, taste, smell, or visual stimuli. They may require more intense or prolonged sensory stimulation to register and respond to the sensation.
Impulsivity in ADHD is characterized by a shortened pause between impulse and action: a bright flash that leads immediately to behaviour before you can fully consider it. Impulsivity shows up in different forms: verbal (blurting out, interrupting), emotional (expressing strong feelings immediately), decision-making (choosing immediate rewards over delayed ones), and motor (acting on physical urges).
Inattentive is one of the ADHD subtypes, also known as the distracted type. Inattentive traits include daydreaming, forgetfulness (not remembering the question while answering, forgetting things at home, following instructions with multiple sub-tasks), and difficulty focusing on a task that’s not engaging enough.
Inertia is the experience of being unable to start (or stop) an activity despite wanting to. It's a common neurodivergent experience related to executive function, and not caused by laziness, procrastination or lack of motivation. Like a car without fuel, no amount of pressing the gas pedal will help when the resources needed for action aren't available.
Info dumping is the casual name referring to the act of sharing an extensive amount of information, usually about a subject or topic the person is extremely passionate about.
Internalised ableism is a psychological construct that refers to the internalisation of negative beliefs, stereotypes, and prejudices about disabilities that are prevalent in society.
It involves self-stigmatization and the development of a negative self-concept based on one's disability and onboarding negative beliefs said to us by parental figures, teachers, grown-ups and society in general.
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.
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) describes the degree to which a nervous system needs predictability in order to function — not as a preference, but as a genuine operational requirement. When outcomes are unknown or plans unconfirmed, a high-IU nervous system tends to generate contingencies: running through variables, gathering information in advance, and finding it difficult to settle until enough is known. For many autistic and ADHD adults, IU runs at a higher baseline than in the general population, and shows up in everyday experiences like needing to know the plan before you can be present, finding plan changes disproportionately disruptive, or preparing carefully for situations in order to free up bandwidth to actually enjoy them. It's not about rigidity or control — it's a nervous system requesting the information it needs to work properly.
Justice 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.
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.
Misophonia is a neurodivergent condition characterized by an intense emotional and physiological response to specific sounds. People with misophonia experience strong negative reactions, such as anger, anxiety, or disgust, when exposed to certain sounds. These sounds can vary from person to person but commonly include chewing, slurping, tapping, or repetitive noises.
Neuroaffirming or neuro-affirmative refers to practices, approaches, or environments that recognize and affirm the neurodiversity of society and the neurodivergence of individuals.
Neurodivergent conditions include ADHD, Autism, OCD, Sensory Processing Disorder and specific learning difficulties, like dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia.
Adaptations or coping mechanisms are adjustments you make for yourself or made for you to create a safe and comfortable environment for you to exist in.
The word neurodiversity is used to describe a diverse group of individuals with different neurotypes. It includes all humans, though colloquially it is often used for a group of neurodivergent people.
An informal and tongue-in-cheek term for neurodivergence, often used in a funny way.
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that help brain cells “talk” to each other, controlling thoughts and feelings. Dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine are all neurotransmitters.
'Neurotypical' describes people whose brain functioning follows common patterns, making it easier for them to align with common expectations in areas like processing sensory information, understanding social cues, following conversations and managing everyday tasks.
Most of our current societies are calibrated to neurotypical functioning with narrow margins of error, which can inadvertently disadvantage people whose neurological configurations fall outside the borders of what's considered 'typical'.
Night terrors are episodes of intense fear during sleep that involve screaming, physical movement, and autonomic arousal (racing heart, rapid breathing, sweating). Unlike nightmares, they occur during non-REM sleep with no memory of the event afterwards.
Night terrors affect both children and adults, with higher prevalence in neurodivergent populations, particularly those with ADHD.
They're triggered by sleep disruption, stress, hormonal changes, and sometimes medication, reflecting both neurological and environmental factors.
Also known as noradrenaline – a neurotransmitter involved in alertness, attention, and response to stress.
Object constancy is the notion that you remain connected and aware of items or people even when they are not visible or physically around. Difficulties in object constancy lead to the "out of sight, out of mind" experience, which is very common with ADHD folk. Not to be confused with object permanence, which is a developmental stage in babies, and relates to them believing things genuinely stop existing when not in sight.
Palilalia is a form of verbal expression where someone involuntarily repeats their own words or phrases, often with decreasing volume. This natural pattern can help with language processing and self-regulation, particularly during times of stress or when processing complex information.
Pattern recognition is a thinking style common in autistic people, involving a tendency to notice underlying structures, connections, and regularities across many areas of life — sensory, social, systemic, and practical. Research supports enhanced visual and perceptual pattern detection in autism, and many autistic adults describe this extending into how they solve problems, read people, predict outcomes, and make sense of the world. Pattern recognition varies enormously between individuals in which domains it shows up, and works best when the data is consistent and rule-governed — making it a genuine strength in many contexts, while less effective in the noisy, context-dependent domain of real-time social interaction.
In a neurodivergent context, the expression is used to describe a common neurodivergent behaviour of people collecting and giving loved items to others - "this made me think of you, I think you'll like this, I thought this was pretty and I want you to have it".
PMDD is Premenstrual Disphoric Disorder, and refers to a severe, disabling form of PMS.
Proprioception refers to the sensory system that provides information about body position, movement, and spatial orientation without visual input (i.e. knowing where our body parts are without having to look at them).
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) is an intense emotional and physical response to perceived rejection, criticism, or the fear of falling short — experienced by many neurodivergent people. The hot flash of shame, the spiral of "what did I do wrong," the doomsday scenarios building while the other person is simply answering their front door — these are recognisable experiences for many people who grew up having their authentic selves ignored, dismissed, or misunderstood. RSD is a pattern recognition system shaped by real history, and having language for it means you can begin to watch the reaction rather than be yanked along by it.
Restricted Repetitive Behaviours (RRBs) is the clinical term for a broad group of autistic traits including stimming, echolalia, routines, persistent interests, and sensory sensitivities. Despite the pathologising name, these patterns serve real purposes — self-regulation, cognitive energy conservation, and genuine enjoyment. They are how an autistic nervous system manages a world that doesn't come with enough predictability built in.
Restriction 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.
Cognitive inflexibility, also erroneously referred to as rigid thinking, is a diagnostic characteristic of autism that describes difficulty shifting between tasks, perspectives, or plans. The label captures how the trait looks from outside — but the internal experience is better understood through monotropism: a processing style that goes deep rather than wide. The depth that makes sustained focus, thoroughness, and reliability possible is the same depth that makes switching costly. The difficulty and the strength are the same mechanism.
Ruminations are thought loops that you seemingly can’t get out of. Examples: thinking about what you should’ve said 5 years ago, feeling anxious if they misunderstood you, or worrying about whether you should’ve behaved differently, did they judge you, whether you were in the wrong, etc. Can be present in both OCD or ADHD. Rumination …
Scripting is a communication pattern where individuals use memorized or prepared phrases in their interactions. Common in autism, it serves as a valuable tool for managing social situations, expressing needs, and conserving energy while communicating. Scripting can be prepared ahead of time or drawn from previously heard phrases, and helps many autistic people communicate more effectively and authentically.
Sensory avoiding, also known as sensory under-responsivity, refers to a pattern of behaviour where individuals actively try to avoid or minimise exposure to sensory stimuli. These individuals may have a heightened sensitivity to sensory input and may find certain sensations overwhelming or discomforting. As a result, they may engage in behaviours such as avoiding crowded …
A 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.
Sensory 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.
Sensory 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.
Sensory-seeking refers to a behavioural pattern or tendency in neurodivergent folks where they actively seek out and engage in sensory experiences or stimuli. People may have a heightened desire for sensory input and actively seek activities or environments that provide intense or stimulating sensations.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, sleep, and appetite, keeping us balanced.
Special interests are deeply focused areas of engagement that autistic people experience with a level of emotional investment, sustained attention, and joy that goes well beyond typical hobbies. Clinically categorised under restricted repetitive behaviours, special interests are one of the defining characteristics of autism — and for most autistic adults, they are a primary source of motivation, regulation, identity, and connection. Between 75% and 95% of autistic people have at least one special interest, and 82% have more than one.
Having a learning difficulty means a person has a harder time learning and acquiring skills. Learning difficulties are not related to levels of intelligence, the related conditions are neurological.
Spiritual bypassing is a dismissive behaviour, meaning the use of spiritual explanations to dismiss, diminish or avoid dealing with complicated emotions, uncomfortable experiences or facing the complex and often harsh realities of life. It's part magical thinking and part toxic positivity.
SSRIs are a type of antidepressant, the name stands for Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. They are often successfully used to treat OCD, PMDD, anxiety, PTSD and depression.
Stimming (self-stimulatory behaviour) tends to be more intense, deliberate, and repetitive. It can include hand flapping, rocking, making repetitive sounds, spinning, examining textures intensely, or listening to the same song on repeat for hours. Stimming is historically associated with autism and serves primarily as emotional and sensory regulation—a way to manage overwhelming feelings, process sensory input, express joy or excitement, or meet a physiological need for specific sensory feedback. Autistic people often describe stimming as a need rather than a choice.
A stimulus (plural: stimuli) refers to any physical or sensory input from the environment that elicits a response or reaction from someone. It can be any sensory information, such as sound, light, touch, taste, or smell, that triggers a biological or behavioural response. Stimuli can range from simple to complex and vary in intensity and …
Synaptic pruning is the process by which the brain refines its connections during development, removing synapses that are used less frequently while strengthening active ones. In autistic brains, this process works differently — two independent cleanup systems (the neuron's internal recycling programme and the brain's specialised immune cells) are both less aggressive, meaning significantly more connections are retained. This denser wiring contributes to many recognisable autistic experiences: sensory intensity, deep focus, rich pattern recognition, difficulty filtering, and the challenge of switching between tasks or environments.
The mTOR pathway is a signalling system inside every cell that regulates the balance between building new structures and recycling old ones. In autistic brains, this pathway runs hotter than typical, suppressing the cell's internal cleanup processes. Up to 58% of autism-associated genes relate to this pathway, making it a point of convergence where many different genetic routes produce similar outcomes — from differences in synaptic pruning and sensory processing to neuroinflammation and the balance between excitatory and inhibitory brain signalling.
Time blindness is when it's tough to grasp the passing of time. It usually means you under- or overestimate the time a project will take. It makes it tricky to manage schedules, deadlines, and planning. It can lead to procrastination, forgetfulness, and feeling overwhelmed or rushed.
Titration is when together with your medical professional you trial different types of medications and the doctor then adjusts the dose based on your experience.
Transitioning, in the context of neurodiversity, refers to the process of moving from one state, activity, or place to another. It involves a shift in attention, focus, and cognitive resources.
For neurodivergent individuals, it may require additional time, support, and strategies to manage effectively.
Transitioning can encompass a wide range of changes, from minor daily shifts like moving from one task to another, to major life changes such as transitioning from school to work or from living at home to independent living.
A trauma-informed approach is looking out for the needs of the individual with the effect of trauma taken into consideration.
Trauma can have a profound physical, biological, psychological and social effect on a person, and this effect cannot be discounted.
Unmasking is when you slowly learn to allow your neurodivergence to present itself and you don't try to hide yourself. However, to unmask is a privilege, as you need a safe space to do it.
Verbal shutdown is a temporary inability to produce speech despite having intact language and thoughts - an involuntary neurological response to overwhelm. It's when words exist in one's mind but cannot be physically spoken due to sensory, emotional, or cognitive overload.
Casually and incorrectly it is sometimes also referred to as 'going non-verbal', but this term is not preferred by the non-speaking autistic community.
The vestibular system is a sensory system located in the inner ear that detects head position and movement, working together with vision and proprioception (body position sense) to maintain balance and spatial orientation.
Waiting mode is a psychological state characterized by heightened anticipation or anxiety while awaiting a specific outcome or event.
In the neurodivergent, especially ADHD community it usually means the period before an event that needs focus or attention spent in a sort of paralysing waiting mode, not being able to do little else until the event is over.
Working memory is one of the executive functions. It is our mental scratchpad, where we temporarily hold and play with info to help with tasks like problem-solving and learning. It's key for everyday stuff but has limited space, so juggling too much can be tough, especially for people with ADHD, who have an even more limited space.
