Meaning of non-neurotypical

  1. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Just got a suggestion from a member that we clear up the definition of non-neurotypical, so I'm going to post up what I consider when I hear "non-neurotypical" and leave this thread open for others to add suggestions and/or their own definition.

    We [non-NTs] are people with a divergence in neurology great enough to mark us out as a seperate "group", or put plainly our brains are wired differently. Among our number we count people with dyslexia, dyscalcula, dyspraxia, aspergers, ADHD, Autism, all flavours of childhood developmental disorders and many more.

    That's a fairly rough definition but it gets the job done.
  2. Kami
    Kami
    No arguments here, sounds like you've got it spot on.
  3. ÑóẊîöʼn
    ÑóẊîöʼn
    We [non-NTs] are people with a divergence in neurology great enough to mark us out as a seperate "group", or put plainly our brains are wired differently. Among our number we count people with dyslexia, dyscalcula, dyspraxia, aspergers, ADHD, Autism, all flavours of childhood developmental disorders and many more.
    I think the bolded bit makes it a bit too vague.

    I also think the triumvirate of dyslexia, dyscalcula and dyspraxia are completely obstructive to personal development with no redeeming features whatsoever. They also don't really affect how one relates to others, they simply make certain tasks (writing, calculations etc) more difficult than usual. Whereas autism, Aspergers, and similar conditions affect one socially and constitute what I would call genuine examples of "different types of consciousness".

    ADHD is, perhaps, a borderline case. Some people like Luis believe it to be an obstacle in one's personal and social life, like an illness, but I have a sneaking suspicion that ADHD is merely a label for the failure of conventional educational methods - some classess bore the shit out of kids, so parents and teachers, rather than trying a different educational approach, attempt to "cure" this child who obviously has an "attention problem", when in all likelyhood in reality the poor kid is just bored out of her skull!
  4. Kami
    Kami
    the triumvirate of dyslexia, dyscalcula and dyspraxia
    It might be worth noting that the word "Dyspraxia" has two different meanings; firstly, the "symptom", so to speak, that sits in there nicely with the other two, and the more common usage, to refer to Developmental Dyspraxia, or Developmental Co-Ordination Disorder as it's sometimes known, which covers a hell of a lot more, and doesn't really fit in there, considering the overlap with other conditions, notably aspergers. I'd certainly say it had some redeeming features, but then, hey, I've not known anything else, and become fairly fond of me.
  5. Dean
    Dean
    I think Jazzrat is pretty much on spot. Since its so hard to really know whether or not mental disorders are biological or psychologically generated, I would make less distinction between the two. For instance, I would say anyone who feels outside of the norm can be considered "no-neurotypical" (note that the initial definition of the term is a rigid, specifically autistic distinction).
  6. Fullmetal Anarchist
    Fullmetal Anarchist
    Can we also include Bipolar? As I understand it (being a sufferer) it could be counted as it's a chemical imbalance in the brain.