Do you like the term neuroatypical?

Post Reply New Topic

I like to use the term neuroatypical to describe myself because I don't think I'm autistic or NT. I

Neutral the term is still long.

It's similar to "Neurodivergent".

"Neurotypical" and "Neurodivergent" are vagus terms.
I also dislike how people are using the term (Neurotypical= Non-Autistic; Neurodivergent= Autistic). They are incorrect. I prefer "Autistic" and "Allistic".

In you case (Allistic and, posible, with a undiagnosed mental condition) I think it's accurate to use "Neurodivergent". In case you don't have a mental condition, you must use "Neurotypical".

I really dislike the term neurotypical, because other neurological paradigms exist besides "autistic" and "non-autistic." To give an example, my non-autistic sister has severe epilepsy. Her frequent seizures arguably have more of an impact on her life than ASD has on mine. By the standards of this board, she is extremely NT: she is intensely social, loves chitchat, makes eye contact with strangers, has no special interests or unusual habits, and is extremely graceful and poised. She works in high-end retail (a career that would be closed to most of us, me included) and is very good at her job. However, her brain is probably at least as divergent from the norm as mine is. Therefore, I don't think it would be accurate to refer to her as NT, even though she is most assuredly not autistic.
I do, however, find myself using the term NT on this board, just because it has become the standard term for "non-autistic."

I'm not talking about the term neurotypical. I'm talking about the term neuroatypical.

Not really. It looks too much like neurotypical to me, and I can get the two mixed up sometimes if they're in the same sentence.

I'm not really sure which term I prefer in place of neuroatypical, though.
Probably autistic and allistic for referring to whether someone is on the spectrum or not, and neurodivergent for people who aren't neurotypical, but aren't autistic either. Does that make sense?

I prefer the term, neurodiversity. It includes everybody.

It seems that the mere letters NT generates a lot of hared and negative stigma on this site, but that's just like people saying bad things about people who are autistic.
I thought at first it meant "normal type", but that's very broad and I know from experience that some non-autistic people make any member of The Addams Family look normal!

sometimes see it (and NT) as kind of a made up term that is often used as a pejorative (woo big word)

I just use Aspergers - people get it, then explain it means I am "neurologically atypical - which means my brain does not necessarily function according to the standard mean) and if they want more details I give them

Seems most teens i know of have a basic understanding of aspergers, and seem to know someone who has it