Section outline

  • Plain-language definitions of terms used throughout this toolkit, kept deliberately short and non-clinical. When this toolkit is translated, each entry below should be checked for a natural equivalent in the target language via back-translation, rather than translated word-for-word — several entries (marked with an asterisk) are known to be difficult to translate directly. 

    General terms 

    • Inclusive education* — designing teaching so it works for a wide range of learners from the outset, rather than retrofitting individual accommodations. 

    • Universal Design for Learning (UDL) — a framework for building flexibility into teaching, materials, and assessment from the start. 

    • Reasonable adjustment — a specific change made for an individual student when general inclusive design does not fully remove a barrier they face. 

    • Disclosure — a student choosing to tell a member of staff about a disability, condition, or support need. 

    • Executive function — the mental processes involved in planning, organising, managing time, and regulating emotion and behaviour. 

    • Assistive technology (AT) — any software or device that helps a student access learning materials or demonstrate their learning. 

    • Neurodivergent* — a term some people use to describe a brain that processes information differently from what is considered typical (e.g. autism, ADHD, dyslexia); not every student uses or prefers this term for themselves. 

    • Social model of disability — the view that people are disabled by barriers in society and environments, not by their own impairment or difference. 

    Category-specific terms 

    • Hyperfocus — an intense, sustained state of concentration on a specific task, sometimes reported by people with ADHD. 

    • Sensory overload — a state of being overwhelmed by sensory input (noise, light, crowding) beyond what can be comfortably processed. 

    • Processing speed — how quickly a person can take in, understand, and respond to information; distinct from intelligence or knowledge. 

    • Screen reader — software that reads digital text aloud or converts it to Braille, used by many blind and some low-vision students. 

    • Captioning — synchronised on-screen text of spoken audio content; distinct from a transcript, which is a standalone text version. 

    • Lipreading — following speech by watching a speaker's mouth and facial movements; never provides full comprehension on its own. 

    • Fluctuating condition — a health condition whose symptoms and impact vary significantly from day to day.