Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
53 results found in autism.
- Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2, SRS)
- A standardized questionnaire used to measure the severity of autism spectrum symptoms in individuals aged 2.5 years through adulthood. The SRS-2 assesses social awareness, social cognition, social com…
- Social Skills Training (SST, Social Skills Intervention)
- A behavioral intervention approach that teaches interpersonal skills through instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. For individuals with autism spectrum disorder or social communication diffi…
- Social Stories (Social Narratives)
- Short, structured narratives developed by Carol Gray that describe social situations, expected behaviors, and appropriate responses in a clear, visual format. Social stories are widely used as therape…
- Social Story (Social Stories, Social Narrative)
- A brief, personalized narrative written to help individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities understand and navigate social situations, transitions, or new experiences. Social stories a…
- Special Interest (Hyperfocus Interest, Intense Interest)
- A special interest is a deep, focused, and often long-lasting passion for a specific topic, activity, or subject area, commonly experienced by autistic individuals. Special interests go beyond typical…
- Special Interest Areas (SIAs, Circumscribed Interests, Intense Interests)
- Special interest areas (SIAs) refer to the intense, focused interests that are characteristic of many autistic individuals. While traditionally viewed through a deficit lens as "restricted" or "repeti…
- Stimming (Self-Stimulatory Behavior, Stim)
- Repetitive movements, sounds, or behaviors that serve self-regulatory functions, commonly associated with autism but present in all people to varying degrees. Examples include hand-flapping, rocking, …
- Stimulus Over-Selectivity (Over-Selective Attention, Tunnel Vision Attention)
- A phenomenon where an individual attends to a limited subset of available stimuli while ignoring other relevant cues in their environment. Stimulus over-selectivity is commonly observed in autistic in…
- Unmasking (Autistic Unmasking)
- The process of reducing or stopping the suppression of autistic behaviors and traits that occurs during masking. Unmasking involves allowing oneself to express authentic autistic characteristics—such …
- Video Modelling (Video Modeling, Video Self-Modelling)
- Video modelling is a teaching strategy that uses video recordings to demonstrate desired behaviours, skills, or social interactions, which the viewer can then observe and imitate. In autism education,…
- Video modeling (Video-based modeling, Video self-modeling)
- An evidence-based instructional strategy that uses video recordings to demonstrate target behaviors, social skills, or task sequences, which the viewer then imitates. For children with autism, video m…
- Visual Schedule (Picture Schedule, Activity Schedule)
- A visual representation of a sequence of activities or steps that an individual is expected to complete, using pictures, symbols, photographs, or written words arranged in chronological order. Visual …
- Visual Supports (Visual Aids, Visual Cues)
- Pictures, symbols, photographs, written words, objects, or other visual items used to support communication, learning, and behaviour in individuals with developmental disabilities, particularly autism…