ACHONDROPLASIA An inherited condition that affects bone growth. People with the condition are short in stature, with limbs that are short in proportion to their body length.
ACTIVIST Someone who campaigns to bring about political or social change.
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION An organization defending and protecting the constitutional rights of United States citizens.
APPENDICITIS A painful swelling of the appendix, resolved by an operation to remove it. Without treatment, the appendix can burst.
AUTISM A broad-ranging condition affecting people in different ways. A brain divergence that influences the way people see the world and communicate. It falls under the umbrella of neurodiversity.
BLACK HOLE Usually created by the collapse of a massive star, a black hole has a gravitational field so strong that no light or matter can escape it.
BULIMIA An eating disorder and mental health condition. Someone with bulimia repeats the behavior of eating a large amount of food in a short space of time (binge eating), and then trying to get rid of the food (purging) by making themselves sick, taking medicine to make them go to the toilet, fasting, or doing extreme and excessive exercise.
CANCER A condition where cells grow and multiply uncontrollably. The cancerous cells can damage and destroy healthy cells, tissue, and organs.
CHEMOTHERAPY A medical treatment for cancer that aims to kill off fast-growing cancerous cells, but that also has an impact on healthy cells.
CHOREOGRAPHER Someone who creates dance routines.
CHRONIC Something that continues for a long time, or comes back regularly.
CISGENDER Someone whose gender identity is aligned with the sex that they were assigned at birth.
CLINICAL DEPRESSION An ongoing period of low mood, and a lack of interest in usual activities, that lasts for most of the day and continues for more than two weeks.
COMPOSER A person who writes pieces of music.
CROHN’S DISEASE A condition where part of the digestive system is inflamed and painful, leading to abdominal pain, diarrhea, and tiredness.
DIABETIC RETINOPATHY A complication of diabetes that can lead to blindness. The high blood-sugar levels that can occur with diabetes can damage the blood vessels in the eye.
EPILEPSY A condition that affects the brain, leading to seizures. These are bursts of electrical activity that affect how the brain works for a short time.
FIBROMYALGIA A long-term condition involving pain spread through various parts of the body and extreme tiredness.
GOVERNESS Someone employed to teach children at their home.
IDENTITY Who someone is and how they think about themselves. The qualities, beliefs and characteristics that make someone who they are.
IDENTITY-FIRST LANGUAGE Placing someone’s disability first in a phrase. Some (but not all) people prefer this as they consider their disability an important part of who they are.
INCUBATOR A rigid container which keeps the temperature and environment stable for a baby.
JOURNALIST Someone who puts together information as stories either in written form or to be broadcast on radio or television.
LEG CALIPER A brace that provides support to the leg and can be used to hold it in a certain position.
CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME A condition that causes extreme tiredness, but can also have other effects such as headaches, muscle and joint pain and dizziness and nausea.
MIGRAINE An intense, throbbing headache. Often includes a sensitivity to light and sounds, and feeling sick.
MOTOR NEURON DISEASE A condition where messages from the brain stop reaching the muscles.
NEUROTYPICAL Meaning neurologically typical, and expressing how society generally expects people’s brains to function. The opposite is neurodiverse, which is a term used to describe brains that are wired in a different way from this, such as those of people with autism, ADHD, or dyslexia, among others.
OSTEOGENESIS IMPERFECTA A condition that affects the bones, causing them to break easily. The severity of the condition varies and can lead to short stature, breathing problems, and hearing loss.
OSTEOMALACIA A condition where someone’s bones don’t form the hard coating needed to keep them strong. The bones remain soft, which can make them more likely to bend or crack. This can be very painful.
POLIO An infection that in some cases affects the nerves in the spine and brain, causing paralysis in the legs. This usually wears off, but can have long-term effects.
PREACHER A person who delivers a religious sermon, often as their job.
PROSTHETIC A manufactured body part, such as a leg, hand, or arm, that is used to replace a part that is considered missing.
RACISM The belief that some races are better than others and treating a person or people differently based on their race.
REHABILITATION A program or various therapies to help someone recover from injury or illness.
SEIZURE Bursts of electrical activity that affect how the brain works for a short time. These can cause convulsions and usually happen to someone with epilepsy.
SLAVERY A situation where people are owned by others, or held under their complete control, with no ability to leave. They are forced to obey and treated as objects that can be bought, sold, and exploited.
SONIFICATION Uses data in a standardized way to create sound signals that convey information.
SPEECH THERAPY Supporting those with speech and language challenges to communicate effectively through speech. It can include physical exercises to improve the muscles used in speech as well as improving clarity.
SPINA BIFIDA A condition where the bones of the spine do not completely close around the spinal cord of a baby during pregnancy.
STEREOTYPE A generalised assumption about a person or a group of people based on limited knowledge or understanding.
TRANSGENDER Someone whose gender identity differs from the gender they were assigned at birth.
VENTILATOR A machine that helps someone to breathe, or that breathes for them.