CrazyCatLord wrote:
aghogday wrote:
CrazyCatLord wrote:
The alternative is to call neurotypical people "healthy" or "normal". If you consider what that makes us in comparison, you might realize that neurotypical is a much better term.
One only has to look at the comments in this thread to see that the word neurotypical is used like a slur to disparage a minority.
But they are no minority. Quite the opposite. The word wasn't meant to be a slur, and I for one don't use it in that way.
Quote:
Non-Autistic is much harder to use in that manner. It sounds silly to apply disparaging words to everyone that is not autistic.
There is nothing disparaging about the word neurotypical. It's a word like heterosexual. And it doesn't just mean non-autistic, it also means non-schizophrenic, non-bipolar, and so on. We could use the phrase "mentally healthy" instead, but things will turn ugly for the non-neurotypical minorities if people apply the opposite term to them. I'd rather be neuro-atypical than crazy or mentally unhealthy.
The problem is when one refers to the individuals that they are having problems at work with that they identify as "NT"'s and one employee is Bi-Polar, one has facial tics, one is introverted, one has ADD, one has ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Migraines, Cluster Headaches, and so on; diagnosed or not all of these conditions have been defined as having neurological based differences. And there is no requirement for anyone to wear a label to provide evidence for their neurological difference.
Neurotypical has no clear definition. It's not even included as as valid word in commonly used dictionaries. Nor, does Wiki have a clear definition. The neurological differences in introverts are understood as well or better than the neurological differences in Aspergers.
Some people would suggest that introverted people are neurotypical, but they do not have typical neurology. Some people suggest that neurotypical means non-autistic, some people aren't sure if schizophrenia should be a part of the category of atypical neurology. And some use the term neurotypical as a slur for people that are impossible to identify.
It is literally impossible to determine if someone does not have an atypical neurological condition by talking to them or knowing them for years. In addition, there are cases of epilepsy that do not show up on an EKG or Brain Scan. And, there are no measurable differences in brain scans among some individuals with Autism spectrum disorders. However, they are still considered neurological problems, per seizures and the issues associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Many of these atypical neurological conditions do not affect social communication. This is the boundry that causes many people with autism related disorders problems in relating to others.
At least the term non-autistic, identifies something discrete, a person without a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder. However even at that level of identification, traits of autism have been researched as existing as far out as 30 percent of the population; there are likely neurological differences underlying those traits as well.
All things taken into consideration, if there is such a thing as neurotypical it is likely the minority of the population, not the majority. Introverts are suggested to exist out into up to 50 percent of the population.
The process of neuroplasticity and epigenetics can change one person's neurology through the course of a lifetime, in positive and negative ways.
Since the term neurotypical was suggested to mean something, by the people in the autistic community that came up with it over a decade ago, science has provided evidence that neurology is in flux through the course of everyone's lifetime, impacting almost every aspect of their life, including social communication.
The bottom line is it is impossible to categorize typical neurology; if it were possible neurologists would have already come up with a term to describe it and a definition for it.
At this point all they have is remarkable and unremarkable brain scans whether they are MRI's, Cat Scans, or EKG's. A finding of unremarkable isn't called normal brain function or typical neurology, because it is not evidence of it. Neuroscience still can't provide full answers as to how neurology and the brain work.
I don't see a problem with using the term, if it is not used disparingly to describe an imaginary group of people. However, considering there is no commonly understood definition for the term, it is of little use in communicating something that exists in real life.
These are just a list of the commonly identified neurological disorders. There are between 300 or 400 disorders in the list, I don't even have the patience to count them one by one. Technically Bi-Polar and Schizophrenia aren't even considered a part of this list of neurological disorders, however it is understood that there are differences in neurology that underly the conditions, just as there are among introverts.
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/neurological-disorders-list.shtmlThere is little to no chance that a room of 10 individuals with Aspergers could agree on which of these neurological disorders meet their own personal idea of what typical or atypical neurology is. And, it is impossible to accurately exclude all of these neurological disorders from any person that one meets in real life, through obervation alone.
Given all these facts it's hard to objectively justify the use of the term neurotypical in real life to describe someone that one comes into contact with.
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Neurological Disorders A
Acquired Epileptiform Aphasia
Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Agenesis of the corpus callosum
Agnosia
Aicardi syndrome
Alexander disease
Alpers' disease
Alternating hemiplegia
Alzheimer's disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (see Motor Neurone Disease)
Anencephaly
Angelman syndrome
Angiomatosis
Anoxia
Aphasia
Apraxia
Arachnoid cysts
Arachnoiditis
Arnold-Chiari malformation
Arteriovenous malformation
Asperger's syndrome
Ataxia Telangiectasia
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Autism
Auditory processing disorder
Autonomic Dysfunction
Neurological Disorders B
Back Pain
Batten disease
Behcet's disease
Bell's palsy
Benign Essential Blepharospasm
Benign Focal Amyotrophy
Benign Intracranial Hypertension
Bilateral frontoparietal polymicrogyria
Binswanger's disease
Blepharospasm
Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome
Brachial plexus injury
Brain abscess
Brain damage
Brain injury
Brain tumor
Brown-Sequard syndrome
Neurological Disorders C
Canavan disease
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
Causalgia
Central pain syndrome
Central pontine myelinolysis
Centronuclear myopathy
Cephalic disorder
Cerebral aneurysm
Cerebral arteriosclerosis
Cerebral atrophy
Cerebral gigantism
Cerebral palsy
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Chiari malformation
Chorea
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
Chronic pain
Chronic regional pain syndrome
Coffin Lowry syndrome
Coma, including Persistent Vegetative State
Congenital facial diplegia
Corticobasal degeneration
Cranial arteritis
Craniosynostosis
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Cumulative trauma disorders
Cushing's syndrome
Cytomegalic inclusion body disease (CIBD)
Cytomegalovirus Infection
Neurological Disorders D
Dandy-Walker syndrome
Dawson disease
De Morsier's syndrome
Dejerine-Klumpke palsy
Dejerine-Sottas disease
Delayed sleep phase syndrome
Dementia
Dermatomyositis
Developmental Dyspraxia
Diabetic neuropathy
Diffuse sclerosis
Dysautonomia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia
Dystonia
Neurological Disorders E
Early infantile epileptic encephalopathy
Empty sella syndrome
Encephalitis
Encephalocele
Encephalotrigeminal angiomatosis
Encopresis
Epilepsy
Erb's palsy
Erythromelalgia
Essential tremor
Neurological Disorders F
Fabry's disease
Fahr's syndrome
Fainting
Familial spastic paralysis
Febrile seizures
Fisher syndrome
Friedreich's ataxia
FART Syndrome
Neurological Disorders G
Gaucher's disease
Gerstmann's syndrome
Giant cell arteritis
Giant cell inclusion disease
Globoid cell Leukodystrophy
Gray matter heterotopia
Guillain-Barre syndrome
Neurological Disorders H
HTLV-1 associated myelopathy
Hallervorden-Spatz disease
Head injury
Headache
Hemifacial Spasm
Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia
Heredopathia atactica polyneuritiformis
Herpes zoster oticus
Herpes zoster
Hirayama syndrome
Holoprosencephaly
Huntington's disease
Hydranencephaly
Hydrocephalus
Hypercortisolism
Hypoxia
Neurological Disorders I
Immune-Mediated encephalomyelitis
Inclusion body myositis
Incontinentia pigmenti
Infantile phytanic acid storage disease
Infantile Refsum disease
Infantile spasms
Inflammatory myopathy
Intracranial cyst
Intracranial hypertension
Neurological Disorders J
Joubert syndrome
Neurological Disorders K
Kearns-Sayre syndrome
Kennedy disease
Kinsbourne syndrome
Klippel Feil syndrome
Krabbe disease
Kugelberg-Welander disease
Kuru
Neurological Disorders L
Lafora disease
Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome
Landau-Kleffner syndrome
Lateral medullary (Wallenberg) syndrome
Learning disabilities
Leigh's disease
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Leukodystrophy
Lewy body dementia
Lissencephaly
Locked-In syndrome
Lou Gehrig's disease (See Motor Neurone Disease)
Lumbar disc disease
Lyme disease - Neurological Sequelae
Neurological Disorders M
Machado-Joseph disease (Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3)
Macrencephaly
Megalencephaly
Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome
Menieres disease
Meningitis
Menkes disease
Metachromatic leukodystrophy
Microcephaly
Migraine
Miller Fisher syndrome
Mini-Strokes
Mitochondrial Myopathies
Mobius syndrome
Monomelic amyotrophy
Motor Neurone Disease
Motor skills disorder
Moyamoya disease
Mucopolysaccharidoses
Multi-Infarct Dementia
Multifocal motor neuropathy
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple system atrophy with postural hypotension
Muscular dystrophy
Myalgic encephalomyelitis
Myasthenia gravis
Myelinoclastic diffuse sclerosis
Myoclonic Encephalopathy of infants
Myoclonus
Myopathy
Myotubular myopathy
Myotonia congenita
Neurological Disorders N
Narcolepsy
Neurofibromatosis
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
Neurological manifestations of AIDS
Neurological sequelae of lupus
Neuromyotonia
Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis
Neuronal migration disorders
Niemann-Pick disease
Non 24-hour sleep-wake syndrome
Nonverbal learning disorder
Neurological Disorders O
O'Sullivan-McLeod syndrome
Occipital Neuralgia
Occult Spinal Dysraphism Sequence
Ohtahara syndrome
Olivopontocerebellar atrophy
Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome
Optic neuritis
Orthostatic Hypotension
Overuse syndrome
Neurological Disorders P
Palinopsia
Paresthesia
Parkinson's disease
Paramyotonia Congenita
Paraneoplastic diseases
Paroxysmal attacks
Parry-Romberg syndrome (also known as Rombergs Syndrome)
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
Periodic Paralyses
Peripheral neuropathy
Persistent Vegetative State
Pervasive developmental disorders
Photic sneeze reflex
Phytanic Acid Storage disease
Pick's disease
Pinched Nerve
Pituitary Tumors
PMG
Polio
Polymicrogyria
Polymyositis
Porencephaly
Post-Polio syndrome
Postherpetic Neuralgia (PHN)
Postinfectious Encephalomyelitis
Postural Hypotension
Prader-Willi syndrome
Primary Lateral Sclerosis
Prion diseases
Progressive Hemifacial Atrophy also known as Rombergs_Syndrome
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
Progressive Sclerosing Poliodystrophy
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
Pseudotumor cerebri
Neurological Disorders R
Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (Type I and Type II)
Rasmussen's encephalitis
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome
Refsum disease
Repetitive motion disorders
Repetitive stress injury
Restless legs syndrome
Retrovirus-associated myelopathy
Rett syndrome
Reye's syndrome
Rombergs_Syndrome
Rabies
Neurological Disorders S
Saint Vitus dance
Sandhoff disease
Schytsophrenia
Schilder's disease
Schizencephaly
Sensory Integration Dysfunction
Septo-optic dysplasia
Shaken baby syndrome
Shingles
Shy-Drager syndrome
Sjogren's syndrome
Sleep apnea
Sleeping sickness
Snatiation
Sotos syndrome
Spasticity
Spina bifida
Spinal cord injury
Spinal cord tumors
Spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal stenosis
Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome, see Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
Spinocerebellar ataxia
Stiff-person syndrome
Stroke
Sturge-Weber syndrome
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy
Superficial siderosis
Sydenham's chorea
Syncope
Synesthesia
Syringomyelia
Neurological Disorders T
Tardive dyskinesia
Tay-Sachs disease
Temporal arteritis
Tethered spinal cord syndrome
Thomsen disease
Thoracic outlet syndrome
Tic Douloureux
Todd's paralysis
Tourette syndrome
Transient ischemic attack
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Transverse myelitis
Traumatic brain injury
Tremor
Trigeminal neuralgia
Tropical spastic paraparesis
Trypanosomiasis
Tuberous sclerosis
Neurological Disorders V
Vasculitis including temporal arteritis
Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL)
Viliuisk Encephalomyelitis (VE)
Neurological Disorders W
Wallenberg's syndrome
Werdnig-Hoffman disease
West syndrome
Whiplash
Williams syndrome
Wilson's disease
Neurological Disorders X
X-Linked Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy
Neurological Disorders Z
Zellweger syndrome
23 Mar 2012, 7:43 pm
