I really hate the term "neurotypical"

[Abomination]

The offensive word treadmill rolls on and on.

It doesn't matter what term is used to describe someone that doesn't possess the emotional or mental capabilities of an unimpeded individual - it will be adopted as a slur eventually and therefore become offensive and we'll think of a new word only to fall into the same process again.

No amount of wishful thinking is going to change this, being born deficient in a particular attribute is not a good thing, it's not the fault of the person born in that way, but it's certainly a detriment. Whatever word used to describe it will be used as an insult towards someone who was not born with the detriment but is exhibiting symptoms of someone who was. It is used because it's a commonly understood descriptor.

"Stop waddling around like a lame duck and get your ass into gear!"

"Why would you say that to him? Are you autistic or just retarded?"

Remember, can't call someone "stupid" because that's the original term for mentally retarded, and before that it was "idiot".

I used to think about it like this before I considered that the goal might be to end up with a term that is actually kind of awkward to say to avoid it becoming a slur. For example, 'little people' is far less snappy than 'midget' and 'mentally disabled' doesn't have the same ring to it as 'retard.' It's kind of hard to imagine someone yelling "LITTLE PERSON!!" as an insult, it's just too much of a mouthful.

Thing is, not everyone will view being called a "Little person" as unoffensive. Some view it as infantisizing. Also, one doesn't have to scream a word to apply it in a derogatory manner - rather adopt a sickly-sweet sing-song tone instead "Aw, the poor little person is stwuggling wiff da stairws."

I think folk should have stuck with "Dwarf", especially because of all the positive connotations one could draw from it now with the prevalence of fantasy literature. Awesome beards, hardy folk, deceptively strong for their size, fine craftsmen, stalwart friends... take "dwarf" back and own it. Embrace it. Hit people with an axe if you don't like them.

 

[Agema]

Things with 'typical' in the name always turn out to be based on a case study of, like, five people anyway, always think they're a bit of a waste of time

Neurodiversity comes from the 90s, I think, and social science. As I said, from what I know of it, I have no objections to it.

"Neurotypical" is a more a recent neologism that has emerged from the autistic community: as far as I am aware, it is based on no meaningful science whatsoever. As far as I can tell it is just that as some autistic people started to refer to themselves as neurodiverse, they made up an thematic antonym to describe the non-autistic.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

Like a lot of terms coming from social science, one should be very careful applying them in the medical/psychiatric field, since these are often very separate fields that draw upon very different literature.

Your point does stand that there is no "true neurotypical" person, same way that "the average person" only exists in statistics, still, I do think it can serve as a good shorthand when discussing the mental healthcare field.
Personality and mental disorders are not anomalous things, in fact, they tend to be completely ordinary brain functions or cognitive abilities ramped up to a dysfunctional degree.

Everyone has these functions and are sensitive to them at variant levels, for those that do not experience hindrance or debilitating sensitivity to them we can classify as "No disorders", neurotypical, if you will, within the mediate boundaries.

Describing Autistic people as "neurodiverse" is kind of a "Well, duh." thing to me, we are neurodiverse as a species, though I do think that calling attention to the needs and difficulties of "Neuro-atypical" people may result in at least a little good, makes us reconsider our social interactions and what and when we consider things "rude", we may come a long way with a little more tolerance there. ^^
This is not done by placating those who presume to champion their dignity, this is done directly on the individual level, ignore the movement and the labels, see the people instead.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Hello, aspie here. I'm not a particular fan of the term neurotypical either, the old term I used was just, normal, as in they have the normal way of thinking.

Over all to me it seems to be part of a trend of club house making that a lot of minority groups have been trending towards like referring to someone as cis gendered and it seems rather unnecessary to myself even though I'm part of a minority group.

If you're discussing groups of people, you need to have a name for that group and a name for people who aren't in that group. "Normal", in of itself is a meaningless term, could relate to anything. Could relate to gender, brain chemistry, handedness, anything. If you have to say "normal way of thinking" to get the meaning across, why not say "neurotypical"?

That's just my own feelings on it. A newer generation probably prefers neurotypical but I'm set on just using normal since it's what I grew up using.

"Stop waddling around like a lame duck and get your ass into gear!"

I prefer calling them a "ruptured duck" myself.

 

[Terminal Blue]

I have very mixed feelings about the neurodiversity movement, but personally I do use the term neurotypical.

I have very good camouflaging skills, meaning I can effectively hide my autism pretty much perfectly. This hasn't always been the case. I learned to camouflage as a way of protecting myself from bullying and isolation. That is the harsh choice facing autistic people, you learn to fake it or you will always be a victim or an outcast. I am different from other autistic people, but mostly that's because of the way I grew up and the things I learned how to do. As a child, I was pretty similar to any autistic child.

There is already a very clear us and them with autism, and if you can't act like part of the us, you're going to be pushed to the margins. I think the least neurotypical people could accept in return is a view from the margins. If we're "weird", and we have to live with all the stereotypes and associations and actual, measurable stigma of being weird, then you get to be "normal", with the full implications of what that means. If that assertion of normality is othering, if it denies your individuality, if it's divisive, then that's something to think on.

Now, what I don't like about the neurodiversity movement is that it's overwhelmingly by and for people like me, people with no cognitive impairment or serious difficulties beyond that deeply unfair stigma of being "weird". But that's not the reality for most autistic people. By denying that autism is a disability, we're kind of implying that having a disability is a bad thing, and that does a huge disservice to autistic people who can't do what we do and who do need more than just recognition and occasional accommodation.