Introducing HAQs, My New Neurodivergent Acronym

HAQ and its plural sister, HAQs, are my newly coined recursive acronyms I've been playing around with:

HAQ or HAQs = Hacks, Accommodations & Quirks

HAQ is pronounced as "hack" while its plural sounds like "hacks." I don't tend to say the initialism version of acronyms, but if you want to pronounce HAQ literally as its letters "H-A-Q" instead of saying "hack" please do so.

Either pronunciation works, just like their rhyming cousins, FAQ and FAQs, non-recursive acronyms sounding like "fack" and "facks." Although they may be more frequently heard as initialisms when pronounced by their letters, "F-A-Q's."

So, introducing HAQ and HAQs ...created on Monday, April 13th, 2026, right here for Miswired.me. 🥳

What makes an acronym recursive?

In open-source programming culture, a recursive acronym is one where the first letter stands for the acronym itself. Examples you've no doubt seen before include:

GNU stands for: GNU's Not Unix
PHP is: PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
YAML represents: YAML Ain't Markup Language
PPLX = Perplexity Powers Life's X-traordinary HAQs (ok...I just made-up that one as I write this.)

For my new acronym, I'll be using here on Miswired.me:

HAQ or HAQs = Hacks, Accommodations & Quirks

The H (pronunciation-wise) points back to its defined-self as a closed loop. Originally it was completely unintentional, but with my goofy brain, it ended up completely Neurodivergently Perfect.

What HAQ & HAQs stands for

The three words aren't random:

• Hacks — Intuitive, DIY (do it yourself) workarounds, clever shortcuts, daily survival strategies, behaviors and habits you invent for yourself. Because many (most?) parts of the neurotypical world's "How To..." instruction manual are poorly written for our neurodivergent brains.
• Accommodations — more of a clinical term, formal and informal support tools, systems, environmental changes, and access needs geared to physical and neurodivergent realities.
• Quirks — here's the reframe: Quirks are not deficits. Quirks are not symptoms. What neurotypical culture might call our "quirks" are actually the specific particular, wired-in ways our brains work. At Miswired.me, we're reclaiming "quirks" as simply who we are and how we are in a world which is not wired for us. Essentially, this website's name is a tongue-in-cheek misdirect which actually stands for:

Miswired.me = the world is miswired for me and for you.

The hashtag family

Going forward on Miswired.me, you'll see these tags in use here, all pronounced as their "hacks" equivalent:

#NeurodivergentHAQs
#AutismHAQs
#ADHDHAQs
#DyscalculiaHAQs
#WrittenExpressionDisorderHAQs

All tags are also active on Miswired.me's internal tag pages, and will grow as new HAQs content is published.

Why it matters

"Life hacks" is already in the cultural vocabulary. "Neurodivergent HAQs" just takes it another step forward and makes it honest and specific. It's an acknowledgment of neurodivergent people. Hacking our own life isn't merely a trendy productivity trope. #NeurodivergentHAQs are our personal adaptations for sanity, for survival, and eventually for self-acceptance.

Consider this post the official timestamp. HAQ and plural sister HAQs are officially a Thing! ...and you read it here first.

A note on "HAQ" and what my word research revealed

While researching whether "HAQ" had been coined before or used as an acronym, I was reminded of its widespread use as the "Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI)" in its various forms. A few of which have involved me in the past for assessment related to my disability with systemic enthesitis and fibromyalgia. My adoption here of HAQ as a recursive, neurodiversity acronym is uniquely different than the HAQ diagnostic health assessment tool. I do find the reminder of the physical health-related "HAQ" to be a delightful coincidence (irony?) with my use of HAQ here and now as a new cognitive-related acronym.

Some significant, additional research findings that are worth noting and pausing on:

In Urdu, I found that Haq is the title of both a celebrated novel and the novel-based film. Both the fascinating-sounding novel and its movie are now at the top of my 'To Read' and 'To Watch' Lists.

More significantly, in Arabic, the word Haqq — spelled with a doubled Q — carries profound meaning: truth, right, and reality. In Islamic tradition, Al-Haqq is among the 99 Names of God, understood as "The Truth" or "The Ultimate Reality."

My acronym (with one letter "Q") HAQ: Hacks, Accommodations & Quirks, is a different word, resulting from an entirely different creative idea and inquiry.

To be clear and very respectful, the similarity in spelling of "HAQ" is coincidental. My small internet-culture contribution, the acronym HAQ, is not at all related to words and names of such deep cultural, linguistic, and sacred significance.

If anything, my mid-research learning of Haqq and its cultural and divine significance feels like a quiet, unexpected discovery. Such gifts of learning are always received with respectful awe and joy. I can't help it; I'm the son of a long lineage of teachers and professors.

It's a reminder that even the most casual wordplay can have roots reaching further and deeper than imagined. I find that to be genuinely wonderful, and I'm thankful that such respect and academic curiosity can lead to understanding and even to advocacy. Exactly the kind of knowledge I hope to discover and share as I learn and record about my own long-denied autism here on Miswired.me...

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

—Steve

Bellingham, WA

P.S. Take a deep, deep breath. Maybe cut yourself some slack today.