Purpose
This glossary anchors the core vocabulary used here as it moves between Dutch and English. It is the canonical reference for every other page in the wiki: if a term appears on the left in Dutch and on the right in English anywhere else in this knowledge base, the mapping lives here. Where the English translation is not fully equivalent — and several are not — the entry notes the gap.
The glossary draws primarily on the sensonate.nl woordenlijst prikkelverwerking and the terminology choices of van Berckelaer-Onnes, Dijkxhoorn & Hufen 2018 — SGL literature synthesis. Both sources agree on most terms but diverge in a few places — where they do, both versions are noted and the reasoning is captured.
A note on responsiviteit vs reactiviteit
The 2018 SGL synthesis makes a deliberate terminological choice that this wiki adopts: “responsivity” is preferred over “reactivity” because a reaction is not always active. A person who does not orient to a loud sound is hyporesponsive; calling the same phenomenon hyporeactive subtly implies an observable reaction that failed, when in fact the absence itself is the datum. This wiki follows this convention throughout.
A note on person-first vs identity-first language
In English-language wiki content, we use identity-first language (“autistic people”) reflecting international community preference. The historical Dutch materials use person-first language (mensen met autisme). Both are valid; the wiki preserves the original when quoting and uses identity-first in new English-language prose. This is flagged as an open internal question in CLAUDE.md.
Core terms
Prikkel — Stimulus
Anything experienced within or outside the body — a sight, a smell, a sound, a thought, a feeling. The word prikkel is broader than the English stimulus: it covers cognitive and emotional experience as well as sensory input. This breadth matters because the model used here treats overwhelm from one’s own thoughts as continuous with overwhelm from the environment.
Prikkelverwerking — Sensory processing (or: stimulus processing)
The process from a stimulus being detected by a sensor, through processing in the brain, through interpretation, to a behavioural response. Largely unconscious. This wiki uses sensory processing when writing in English, but note that “stimulus processing” is the more literal translation and is sometimes the better term in contexts where non-sensory stimuli (thoughts, emotions) are in scope.
Zintuiglijke prikkelverwerking (ZiP) — Sensory stimulus processing
A more formal compound term used interchangeably with prikkelverwerking in Dutch clinical writing. No distinct English equivalent; translates as sensory processing.
Sensorische Informatieverwerking (SI) — Sensory Information Processing
The term associated with Ayres-tradition SI therapists and the broader sensory integration field. The relationship between SI and prikkelverwerking is that SI is a subset of the broader concept — SI focuses on how the brain integrates multi-sensory input, while prikkelverwerking covers the whole detection-to-response arc.
The senses
Zintuig — Sense
Channels through which stimuli enter the body. This wiki counts: sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, balance, proprioception, and interoception. See The senses — de zintuigen for the full taxonomy.
Exterosensoren — Exteroceptors / External sensors
The commonly known five senses detecting stimuli from outside the body: touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste.
Interosensoren / interoceptie — Interoceptors / Interoception
Sensors registering internal bodily signals: hunger, thirst, bladder fullness, pain, balance, muscle tension. Interoception is increasingly recognised as central to emotional regulation and is often overlooked in standard sensory assessment.
Nabijheidszintuigen — Proximity senses
Collective term for senses detecting nearby stimuli: touch, taste, smell, movement, balance, interoception. The distinction between proximity and distance senses is historical (Goldfarb 1961, Prick 1965) and clinically useful: autistic children have been reported to “stay stuck” in the proximity senses and avoid the distance senses.
Vertezintuigen — Distance senses
Collective term for senses detecting distant stimuli: hearing and sight. Stimuli originate externally and reach the body from a distance.
Tactiele systeem — Tactile system
The formal term for the sense of touch; registers contact stimuli via skin receptors.
Visus — Vision
The formal term for sight; enables image perception.
Proprioceptie / propriosensoren — Proprioception / proprioceptors
Movement sensors in muscles, ligaments, and joints. Tells the body where it is in space without visual feedback. Atypical proprioception in autistic people shows up as “not knowing one’s own strength” and reduced body awareness.
Vestibulair — Vestibular (balance) system
The balance system, including related nerves and brainstem structures. Distinct from proprioception — vestibular registers head position and acceleration; proprioception registers limb and body position.
Nociceptie — Nociception / pain sensors
The technical term for pain sensors distributed through organs, muscles, and skin.
Receptoren — Receptors
Nervous-system components that receive and transmit stimuli from the senses.
Sensoren — Sensors
Alternative term for senses or receptors that transmit sensations. The Dutch frameworks tend to use sensoren in clinical writing and zintuigen in public-facing writing.
Sensaties — Sensations
Stimuli as received by the senses; the raw data before interpretation.
Processing and filtering
Prikkelfilter — Stimulus filter
Brain processes determining which stimuli warrant further processing. Involves four anatomical structures: the reticular formation, the thalamus, the cerebral cortex, and the insula. A “dysfunctional filter” is one of the two dominant explanatory models for autistic sensory processing differences.
Moduleren / modulatie van prikkels — Modulating stimuli / stimulus modulation
Processing stimuli and regulating appropriate responses to them in context. Closely related to prikkelfilter — filtering is about which stimuli get through, modulation is about what the response looks like once they do.
Thalamus
Brain relay station selecting relevant stimuli from the senses for processing in other brain areas. Included here because it is named directly in the sensonate.nl glossary as a part of the stimulus filter.
Perceptie — Perception
Assigning meaning to a stimulus or combination of stimuli. Distinct from sensatie (the raw sensory data) and from waarneming (conscious awareness of stimuli, shaped by prior learning).
Waarneming — Awareness / conscious perception
Becoming consciously aware of stimuli, where meaningful interpretation is influenced by prior learning and context. The Dutch term blends “awareness” and “perception” in a way English doesn’t — waarneming sits between the two.
Hypo- and hyperresponsivity
Reactiviteit / responsiviteit — Reactivity / responsivity
How one responds to stimuli. Hypo- indicates weak or absent responses; hyper- indicates excessive responses. See the note above on why this wiki prefers responsiviteit.
Onder- of overgevoeligheid voor prikkels — Under- or oversensitivity to stimuli
How strongly stimuli pass through the brain’s filter. Undersensitivity requires stronger stimuli to register; oversensitivity causes rapid overload. Related to but not identical with responsivity: sensitivity is about the threshold, responsivity is about the resulting behaviour.
Onderprikkeling en overprikkeling — Understimulation and overstimulation
Terms for reduced or heightened stimulus experience compared to typical populations. This wiki frames these as problematic only when they cause distress, not as inherently pathological. See Positive aspects of hypo- and hyperstimulation.
Prikkelgevoeligheid — Stimulus sensitivity
The degree to which one experiences under- or overstimulation quickly. Functionally the adjective-noun form of onder- of overgevoeligheid.
Prikkelregie — Stimulus control / stimulus agency
The extent to which a person can influence their own exposure to stimuli through withdrawal or seeking. This wiki treats prikkelregie as a core skill and as something the environment either supports or undermines. No clean English single-word equivalent — “sensory agency” or “stimulus self-regulation” come closest.
Alertness and balance
Alertheid — Alertness
The degree to which one can pay attention and process stimuli effectively. In the framing used here, closely linked to openness to learning.
Arousal / hypo- / hyperarousal
Physiological tension or stress level; the extent to which one is psychologically and physically awake and able to process stimuli. Hypo-arousal indicates insufficient tension; hyperarousal indicates excessive tension. The English loanword arousal is used in Dutch clinical writing.
Prikkelbalans — Stimulus balance
Appropriate responses to stimuli in context; the felt state of being able to process what arrives without tipping into over- or understimulation. The anchor concept for the four-zone framework used here (green/orange/red/blue). See Prikkelbalans — Stimulus balance.
Related pages
- van Berckelaer-Onnes, Dijkxhoorn & Hufen 2018 — SGL literature synthesis — terminological source
- The senses — de zintuigen — expanded sensory taxonomy
- Hypo- and hyperresponsivity — the core observed pattern
- Dunn’s four types of sensory processing — complementary framework
- Prikkelbalans — Stimulus balance — the four-zone strategy