If "allistic" means non-Aspie...

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Why isn't there a term that classifies non-something else? For example, say there was a forum or group organization just for people living with Down's Syndrome, is there a word they'd use that means non-Down's Syndrome people? I'm a non-Down's Syndrome person. So what are we to them, if allistics are non-Aspies?

Or what are people who don't have Dementia referred to as? Why does it only seem to be Aspies that have coined so many words that seem to put us in a separate group from the rest of the population?

Jews call all non Jews "Gentiles".

Gypsies call non Gypsies "Gadjay".

Soldiers call non soldiers "civilians".

The German language has the term "das Ausland" which means "the whole planet outside the borders of Germany".

There are conventions just for twin, and triplet, siblings to gather. And in the lingo of the twin/triplet community those of us not twins or triplets nor in any multiple birth are called "singletons".

So many many groups have a collective noun for outsiders. Especially when the group becomes self aware, and starts networking (like what has recently happened with grown up mulitple birth people).

Have you ever been to a Down's syndrom convention? For all you know they may have some collective noun for non Downs syndrome folks. Maybe they are "Downers", and we all are "Uppers".

People who are not a narcissist are called nones

People without hearing loss are called hearies

People who are not disabled are called able bodied

People who are not blind are called sighted. I think that is the term they call us

In the Harry Potter world people who are not witches and wizards are called muggles

People who are not transgender are called cisgender

Oh yes, never thought of that. Maybe other neurotypes coin words to call all people who don't have the same condition as them.

So thanks guys, it now makes me feel less isolated when using the word ''allistic'' when describing non-Aspies. I don't use ''NT'' to describe non-Aspies, because I don't believe that all non-Aspies are necessarily NT. Allistic best describes that.

Last edited by Joe90 on 08 Nov 2015, 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That sounds a bit derogatory as a "downer" is generally used for a killjoy or someone who crashes the party.

Now I'm not word-police and the avenger of hurt feelings, so it's not that I get upset or anything, like some people make it their business on forums, I just see it unlikely that they would refer to themselves this way as they undoubtedly have heard the term "downer" be used in a derogatory way.

As for autism related words and expressions, in some ways, I like the usage of NT, but in other ways it sort of suggests that non-autistics are bland or uninteresting by being neuro -"typical". I.e "neurologically like everybody else". Since autism is a spectrum and a lot of these people are also probably just a little bit autistic, it might just be unnoticeable traits that don't really make a difference; but taking that into account it seems to suggest that they are all the same neurologically. Autism is only one neurological among many, so to use neuro-typical about someone who might have some other neurological difference seems like an unnecessary categorization.

But I must admit that in times of self-pity, muttering "those darn neuro-typicals" feels satisfying.

We're all a little bit tribal, like it or not

I prefer non-autistic to allistic. Allistic has an etymology I don't like and people know what non-autistic means without further explanation. There are many non-autistic people who are not neurotypical. I like the specificity these terms allow.

^ This.
Allistic could be interpreted as "all or nothing"
Or as "all" = everybody, the opposite of which is nobody

...

I agree with this too.

But lately I've been referring to all people on the spectrum as ''Aspies'', even people who are diagnosed Autistic. It's just quicker, rather than keep saying ''Aspies and Autistics'' when describing all people on the spectrum. So to say ''allistic'' I suppose I just say ''non-Aspie''.