M – Autism Dictionary
Meltdown An autistic meltdown is a severe, involuntary response to overwhelming situations where a person loses control of their behavior and emotions due to being overstimulated or experiencing sensory overload. It’s different from a tantrum, as it’s not a deliberate attempt to manipulate or get attention. Instead, it’s a visceral reaction to feeling overwhelmed, and the person may struggle to communicate or regulate their emotions.
Further reading: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/meltdowns/all-audiences
Misophonia is an extreme emotional reaction to certain everyday sounds that most people would find relatively easy to ignore. The three main types of sounds that disturb people with misophonia are eating, nose and throat sounds, and repetitive environmental sounds like keyboard tapping and rustling paper.
Further reading: https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/ohspic/problems/misophonia/
Monotropism is a theory suggesting that autistic individuals tend to focus their attention and energy on a smaller number of interests or topics, leading to intense focus and potentially missing or overlooking information outside of that focused area. It’s a way of processing information where fewer interests are aroused at any given time, and those interests attract more processing resources, making it harder to shift attention.
Further reading: https://monotropism.org/
Moral rigidity many people on the spectrum report a strong moral rigidity, meaning our moral compass is set and cannot be moved. We also gauge right and wrong based strongly on consequence and fairness.
Further reading: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691823000719