Do you like the word neurotypical?

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Do you like the word Neurotypical?

I am writing another book and trying to work out in myself how I feel about the word Neurotypical.

I would really appreciate people telling me there thoughts and feelings on this matter, take as much space as you like as I will value every word, and I hope you get something of value out of this too.

I would also like to know who coined the word? By that I mean who came up with the word Neurotypical in the first place?

I like words to go deeper and are more concrete and precise. For example, most of my Non-autistic friends are poets, philosophers, artists, alcoholics, and recovering addicts, and believe you me, they are the most un 'Neurotypical' people I know. So in my world NT seems not a perfect fit and non-autistic person NAP, fits much better.

Tell me what you think

I like the feel of saying NT this or NT that, as each time I say it, it makes me feel superior and a little condemning of a culture that feels for the most part alien to me as an autie......

however, above all I wish for now to know your thoughts and feelings.

Thank you

Chris

The word 'neurotypical' implies that someone is normal, but how often do you meet a 'nomal' person in today's society? You cannot initially tell if they are or have been affected by a mental disorder or if they have a learning difficulty etc, hence I don't like it for that reason. I think saying 'autistic' or 'non-autistic' is better because then you are not implying that someone is completely normal, you are just stating that they are not autistic.

I use the abbreviation 'NT' online, but would very rarely refer to someone as 'neurotypical' in real life. I just refer to non-AS people as 'most people' or 'normal'.

I would feel a bit stupid referring to someone as an 'NT'; it reeks of a sort of nerdy-exclusion mentality.

Hi Criss. There was a long discussion with many opinions on this in one of the other forums, possibly General Discussion, day before yesterday. Good luck.

yesterday I went on a social stories workshop run by speach and language therapists, argh it was awful all these NTs saying how weird and odd AS people are, I was so embarrassed and worried about being spotted for what I was. I did well as I only heckled 3 times and avoided the group work.

Interestingly during my ordeal I came up with a new phraze, NTC- neuro typically correct, the NTC way of interpreting social situationsis. NTC is what social stories are all about, the preferred interpretation of social situations, for example the (my) AS answer to not being rude to a teacher is that they will punish you, but the NTC answer is because it will hurt the teachers feelings. I did very poorly at the social stories and can not write them in a NTC fashion (only in a fashion which makes all the NTs cross with me) but I did learn a lot about NTs and how they are happy to not tell the truth but want to smear the world in a veneer of pretend niceness. Also that they are happy to go around feeling superior to aspies!

before I heard of the term NT I used the term human, and still use human to a certain extent, I think NT makes more sence to people though, I also think its pretty widely used and mental health teams are useing it now also.

you know me Chris, I find it very hard not to sound superior when refering to the outside world whether useing the terms NT or not!

love to you and good luck with your book, I think useing 'non autistic person' is the best thing.

I like the idea of, that some of us are neurologically different which the word "neurotypical" suggests.

I don't like when the word neurotypical gets extended to anyone who doesn't have an autism spectrum disorder. When someone says they are an NT and that they have some AS traits (someone here because they know someone with AS, usually a parent of someone with AS), I wonder how they can say that. How can someone see themselves as neurotypical AND as having AS traits? I suspect it's from extending the word to mean not having and AS disorder.

Mostly, it's a useful word sometimes, and one I don't usually think to much about.

I feel you, OP, on the un neurotypical part... The only time I use the word 'neurotypical' or 'nt' is on this site. My husband actually objects to the term as he in no way shape or for considers himself neurotypical, despite the fact that he is not autistic. He finds that to be a terrible classification. He is a genius, so he feels far from being an nt. Most of the people I associate with are also artsy types who are far from typical and like my acquaintances who are bipolar, or obsessive compulsive... they would say no, they are not neurotypical and look to 'norms' as though they were another species entirely.

I think the word neurotypical is a broad generalization that does a poor job of clumping many, very diverse people, into a small category that makes the assumption that they are all somehow alike. I understand the need to draw differences in people, as, for example, I clearly do not think, process or react like the bulk of the people I deal with on a regular basis, so I need to keep this in mind when dealing with them and they need to keep that in mind when dealing with me... but to call them all neurotypical because of this... I think it is unfair and inaccurate.

I like non-autistic... though NAP makes me chuckle a bit... I find that to be more fitting and appropriate than nt, for reasons mentioned above as well as the long standing discussion of 'what is normal anyhow'. I feel as though I am just restating what has already been said...

thankx so much everyone this is very useful and interesting for me.

from London in the rain

I edited my post above because I'd worded it wrong when switching wording mid-writing, and it came across like the opposite of what I meant.

There is another string on this, it has a lot of opinions.

To me, NT means someone who tests within the mean. A genious, non autistic, with an IQ of 160 with other scores within the mean to me is not NT.

I have not heard this term outside of the autism community however. Maybe it was meant as an Autistic vs Non Autistic, but that's not how I see it. I would love to know where it came from.

It's a good word. It means just what it says, "neuro" as in having to do with neurology, and "typical", as in the way most people are.

If there is a better word for "people with typical neurology, i.e people who don't have autism, ADHD, mood disorder, or any other atypical neurology", then I'd love to hear it.

It's descriptive and there is no value judgment in it. Plenty of people on WP seem to use it in a derogatory manner because they've got an axe to grind, but that's not inherent in the word itself.

It's a little too PC for me, but to be honest I can't think of a replacement. Edit for clarity: Like just reading it you can tell it was carefully chosen to not offend, if you know what I mean.

The word beats "normals", which has been used in some other texts. I think "typical" doesn't necessarily say good or bad. "Normal" implies everything else is "abnormal", which is a negative term. neurotypical works unless there's some better word.

It occurs to me, neurotypical is a relative term.

I was thinking about someone I know, someone who seems to be more aspie than me, and well, that makes me feel, in comparison, neurotypical. As in, more so than him.

So, I can now see what a parent of a child with autism or Asperger's would call themselves neurotypical while admitting to some aspie traits. Because it's a relative thing -- in comparison to their child, they are neurotypical.

And me, in comparison to this person I know, I'm neurotypical. Compared to the average person, I'm distinctly not neurotypical.

I use the word on this site but I don't really see the point in having a technical word for normal. It's just normal, there's no need to over complicate it.