Glossary
The words, explained plainly
Clear, jargon-free definitions of the terms you’ll meet around visual schedules, routines, and support for autistic and neurodivergent children.
- AAC (augmentative and alternative communication)
- AAC, or augmentative and alternative communication, refers to methods and tools — picture symbols, communication boards, and speech-generating apps or devices — that support or replace spoken language.
- ADLs (activities of daily living)
- ADLs, or activities of daily living, are the routine self-care tasks people do each day to look after themselves — dressing, washing, grooming, toileting, and eating.
- Executive function
- Executive function is the group of mental skills used to plan, sequence, remember, and manage tasks — including working memory, organisation, and cognitive flexibility. Differences in these skills affect how a child handles multi-step routines and transitions.
- First-Then
- First-then is a two-part visual prompt — “first this, then that” — that pairs a task to be done with a preferred activity that follows, making a transition feel predictable and doable.
- Positive reinforcement
- Positive reinforcement is adding something motivating — praise, a token, a preferred activity — immediately after a desired behaviour, which makes that behaviour more likely to happen again.
- Sensory overload
- Sensory overload occurs when the amount or intensity of sensory input — sounds, lights, textures, smells — becomes more than a person can comfortably process, leading to distress, shutdown, or the need to escape.
- Stimming
- Stimming is self-stimulatory behaviour — repetitive movements, sounds, or actions such as rocking, hand-flapping, or humming — that many autistic people use to self-regulate, focus, or manage sensory input and emotions.
- Task analysis
- Task analysis is the practice of breaking a skill or routine into its smallest concrete steps, each a single action, so it can be taught and followed one step at a time.
- Token economy
- A token economy is a reward system in which a child earns a token for each task or step completed and exchanges a full board of tokens for a reward they chose in advance.
- Visual schedule
- A visual schedule is a series of pictures or symbols that shows the steps of a routine, or the order of a day, so a child can see what is happening now and what comes next.
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