Glossary

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Scoliosis

A structural condition in which the spine develops a sideways curvature, often in an 'S' or 'C' shape. Scoliosis ranges from mild curves requiring only monitoring to severe cases that can affect posture, breathing, mobility, and chronic pain, and it is sometimes associated with…

Scotoma(also: Blind Spot, Visual Field Defect)

An area of partial or complete loss of vision within an otherwise normal visual field. Scotomas can be central (affecting the area of sharpest vision) or peripheral, and may be caused by conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, optic neuritis, or retinal damage. In the…

Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome(also: Irlen Syndrome, Visual Stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome)

A perceptual processing condition in which the brain has difficulty handling certain visual information, particularly high-contrast patterns like black text on a bright white background. People with scotopic sensitivity may experience text appearing to move, shimmer, or blur on…

Sensorineural Hearing Loss(also: SNHL, Nerve Deafness)

Sensorineural hearing loss is hearing loss caused by damage to the hair cells of the inner ear (cochlea) or the auditory nerve, in contrast to conductive hearing loss, which involves the outer or middle ear. SNHL is the most common type of permanent hearing loss in adults and is…

Sensory Based Motor Disorder(also: SBMD)

A subtype of Sensory Processing Disorder in which the brain has difficulty using sensory information to plan and execute motor actions. SBMD encompasses two sub-types: postural disorder, which affects balance and core stability, and dyspraxia, which impacts motor planning and…

Sensory Processing(also: Sensory Integration, Sensory Processing Differences)

Sensory processing refers to the way the nervous system receives, organizes, and responds to sensory input from the environment, including sound, light, touch, smell, taste, and movement. When sensory processing works differently — as is common in autistic individuals and people…

Sensory Processing Disorder(also: SPD, Sensory Integration Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction)

A condition in which the brain has difficulty receiving, organizing, and responding to sensory information from the environment and the body. People with Sensory Processing Disorder may be oversensitive or undersensitive to sensory input — including touch, sound, light,…

Sensory Processing Sensitivity(also: SPS, Sensory Processing Differences)

Sensory Processing Sensitivity refers to differences in how an individual perceives, filters, and responds to sensory input across modalities such as vision, sound, touch, taste, and proprioception. It is commonly elevated in autistic people, but also occurs in people with ADHD,…

Sloping Hearing Loss(also: High-frequency Hearing Loss, Sloping SNHL)

Sloping hearing loss is a common audiogram shape in which hearing thresholds are relatively preserved at low frequencies and progressively worse at higher frequencies, producing a downward slope on the audiogram. It is the typical presentation of age-related hearing loss…

Social Anxiety(also: Social Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia)

Social anxiety (social anxiety disorder, SAD) is a mental-health condition characterised by persistent and intense fear of being judged, rejected or humiliated in social or performance situations, leading to avoidance of interactions that most people experience as routine. It is…

Spasmodic Dysphonia(also: Laryngeal Dystonia, SD)

Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological voice disorder characterized by involuntary spasms of the laryngeal muscles during speech, causing interruptions in voice production. The most common form, adductor spasmodic dysphonia, causes the vocal folds to close too tightly, producing…

Speech Disfluency(also: Disfluent Speech, Non-Fluent Speech)

Any interruption to the normal flow of speech, including repetitions of sounds or words, prolongations of sounds, blocks (involuntary pauses), interjections, and revisions. While everyone experiences occasional disfluency, persistent speech disfluency conditions such as…

Speech disorder(also: Speech impairment, Communication disorder)

A condition that affects an individual's ability to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, encompassing articulation disorders, fluency disorders, and voice disorders. Speech disorders are significant for digital accessibility because voice-controlled interfaces,…

Spinal Cord Injury(also: SCI)

Damage to the spinal cord that results in temporary or permanent changes in motor function, sensation, or autonomic function below the level of injury. Depending on the location and severity, spinal cord injuries can cause paraplegia (lower body paralysis) or…

Spinal Cord Injury(also: SCI)

Damage to the spinal cord that results in partial or complete loss of motor function, sensation, or both below the level of injury. The location of injury along the spine determines which abilities are affected: injuries at higher vertebrae (e.g., C4-C5) affect more of the body,…

Stammering(also: Stuttering, Stammer, Stutter)

A neurological condition that affects the rhythmic flow of speech, causing involuntary repetitions, prolongations, or blocks of sounds, syllables, or words. Blocking describes audible or silent moments when a person is unable to produce a specific sound despite intending to.…

Strabismus(also: Crossed eyes, Squint, Eye misalignment)

A condition in which the eyes do not align properly, causing one eye to point in a different direction from the other — inward (esotropia), outward (exotropia or exophoria), upward, or downward. Strabismus disrupts binocular coordination and can lead to double vision, amblyopia,…

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