Shared language, no diagnosis gate

NeuroFringe glossary

Product terms and community language explained as practical context—not universal definitions of anyone’s experience.

Operating Manual
A privacy-controlled profile of communication, sensory needs, capacity, interests, and masking. It is not a medical record.
Masking
Conscious or automatic suppression, rehearsal, or substitution of traits to meet social expectations. The cost and choice vary by person and context.
Infodump
A sustained, detailed expression of interest. On NeuroFringe, intensity is welcome and attention still requires consent.
Parallel play
Being together while doing separate activities, with shared presence rather than continuous interaction as the connection.
Demand sensitivity
The degree to which expectations or instructions increase the nervous-system cost of an action, including actions a person wants to do.
Sensory ceiling
The highest usable level of sound, light, crowding, smell, or unpredictability before the environment consumes the interaction.
Low Demand mode
A temporary dating state that lowers social expectations and sends clear notices instead of making silence carry all the meaning.
Clean Exit
A fixed, clear way to end a connection and close the thread without creating a reply obligation.
Reply pace
The normal rhythm of response—same day, within days, in bursts, or unpredictable—stated as context rather than inferred as interest.
Monotropy
An attention style in which a small number of interests or tasks may receive deep, sustained focus.
Wavelength
A small, interest-led community space with enough active members to support recurring conversation.
Fit and friction
Named areas of likely ease and likely discussion. It replaces a numeric compatibility score and never ranks human worth.