I wanted to talk about the term neurotypical. Some people who might be described as neurotypical have objected to the term, and I actually understand their reasons for feeling that way, but I’m going to argue that for now we need to use that term, but hopefully in time it can be replaced with something better.
A neurotypical person is somebody who is not autistic, or not dyslexic, or does not have ADHD for example. So why do we say neurotypical instead of “normal”? The simple reason is that the term “normal” can be ostracizing even if it’s not meant that way. One of my most painful memories as an autistic person is various people demanding that I “act normal”. In a technical sense, “normal”, can just mean of the majority, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be stigmatizing, but the term is often used to mean, “correct”, implying that autistic people, or dyslexic or dyspraxic people, are “incorrect” or bad. That’s why the majority are referred to as neurotypical instead of normal.
And that’s why I typically use the term neurotypical to describe the majority of the population when discussing autistic issues. And I will continue to use it for the foreseeable future, because it is better than the term normal by far. But is it a particularly good term? I don’t think it is.
The reason I don’t think it’s a good term is because, well, I have met neurotypical people. Many in fact over the course of my life. Not all of my friends are autistic you know! Ten different neurotypical people may see the world, hear the world and experience the world in ten different ways. So the term neurotypical is not a good way to describe them. It implies that the majority of the population are very similar to each other, which they are clearly not. The opposite of “when you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person”, is also true, when you’ve met one neurotypical person you’ve met one neurotypical person.
So, the term isn’t all that great. But compared to the stigmatizing word “normal”, which is ostracizing to autistic people and other neurodivergent people, it is a major improvement. The term neurotypical seems to be catching on, and perhaps we are stuck with it for a while, if somebody came up with a better word tomorrow, it may not gain popularity for a variety of reasons, human language being the unpredictable thing that it is. So that’s why for now I will stick with the term, and hope that in time the English language produces something better that gains popularity.
Ponderings Of An Autist 
I’ve been contemplating similar things recently, which makes me glad to see this. I perceive diversity as a function of groups, not as existing within a given individual, so that it feels strange and uncomfortable to me to apply these words at the individual level. And yet, this is better than any other words I yet have, and not nearly as stigmatizing–to your point–as those other words. So this is the term I, too, will continue to use for now.
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There’s a phrase I sometimes consider using for neurotypical people, and that is “neurotype not specified”, I suppose you would say NNS for short, because it clarifies that they are not autistic or dyspraxic or in some way neurodivergent, but at the same time clarifies that they are not all the same. But of course, the term would have to catch on!
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