Let me guess—your first thought was “who wouldn’t?!!”
But, you see, there’s a problem with the definition of Neurotypical.
People assume Neurotypical equals Normal and that Normal equals Good. Normal does for the most part equal Good for reference ranges in the medical field. You want to have your fasting blood glucose to be between 70-100 mg/dL. And you want your cholesterol to be under 200 mg/dL. Some physical aspects, too. You would not want to be extremely tall or extremely short since those two extremes would bring about physical issues and a shortened lifespan.
But… when thinking about Normal people, people who self-identify as Normal or Neurotypical think that it means… smart, witty, friendly, charismatic, good at socializing, highly adaptable, creative, talented, and so on.
If we think of typical as the basic average, then it is a completely different thing. It means you, Neurotypical, are about as smart as the person next to you. You are on the average for everything cognition and mentally wise. It would mean you are not:
- Very creative.
- Very adventurous.
- A genius.
- A good artist.
- Very talented in anything, really.
- Smarter than most.
- Very charismatic.
- More altruistic than others.
- Nicer, more compassionate, more empathetic than others.
For what is worth, you are also not worse than others—you don’t absolutely lack creativity, sense of adventure, talent, charisma, intelligence, altruism, etc.
For this post, I searched for the definition of “average” in Google, what I found was “Smart people…” “Attributes of above average people,” “Qualities of highly successful people.” Google’s ranking system tries to find the links that are the most relevant and useful to you, to help you find what you’re looking for. This means that when we look for “average,” what we’re *really* looking for is how we can become successful, above average, smart. (Merriam Webster’s definition of “average” is: 2b: “a level (as of intelligence) typical of a group, class, or series”).
People don’t want to be “normal” in the sense of “average.” We don’t want to have any “issues,” like what we imagine all those poor non-neurotypical people have. But we also want to believe we are better than the rest of all the people with “no issues.”
This is called “Illusory Superiority” or the “Better-Than-Average Effect” (BTA or BTAE). Basically, we all have an idea of what the typical/average is, but we believe *we* are above that average for positive traits. A recent study found that 65% of Americans believe they are above average in intelligence, which by definition is impossible. People even believe they are better at following COVID-19 guidelines than others.
The Illusory Superiority can actually help us. It supports our self-worth, self-esteem and, in that sense, prevents depression and anxiety. It has been found to be related to being a member of majority groups with power, e.g., individuals who are middle-age, Christian/Catholic, highly educated and who have a high income in one study, men in another recent study.
On the other hand, it can create many issues. Some affect the individual: men, for example were overconfident about their driving skills, with 80% believing they are above-average drivers. It can also lead to the Dunning-Kruger Effect, where people believe they know more than they really know, are more capable than they really are, etc. It can affect how we treat others, as well. The Better-Than-Average Effect, along with egocentrism and failures in how we interpret others’ behavior and our own actions, can lead to disagreement, misunderstanding and conflict.
This can extend to social groups, creating negative biases and prejudice to “others” as well as what is called Ingroup Favoritism (responding more positively from people in “our” group than people outside of our group).
The Illusory Superiority and related effects, then, make a person consider themselves as Better-Than-Average; in practice, as better than others around them. As a group, Ingroup Favoritism makes Neurotypicals consider themselves as better than Neurodivergent people, even though by definition Neurotypicals would be just average.
Ingroup Favoritism, in turn, leads to Neurotypicals placing their group’s needs above those of Neurodivergent people. Since Neurotypicals control the narrative and are the group with most power, this creates a huge and unfair disadvantage to Neurodivergent people, resulting in disability (based on the social model of disability) and ableism.
Neurotypicals are not better than autistic people, or people with ADHD, or Tourette’s, or Down Syndrome, or Dyslexia, or Anxiety, or Depression. Neurotypicals are also not worse than others.
However, Neurotypical behaviors are what are expected and enforced by society. It is the default condition: people are assumed to be Neurotypical unless proven otherwise. And just as other default conditions with power, it brings about prejudice and bias, as well as a misperception of superiority. This Illusory Superiority applied to Neurotypicals can play a role in parents and other family members of people diagnosed as Neurodivergent avoiding looking for a diagnosis themselves, even when there are traits they share with their child that could point to their being Neurodivergent themselves.
To change our prejudices and biases, we must actively educate ourselves and consciously act against those biases. We must remind ourselves that our ideas of superiority are simply an illusion and that Neurotypical behaviors are not better—we (Neurotypical) are simply more used to them.
Finally… Wanting to be Neurotypical is meaningless anyway. You cannot choose, you are (or not) born that way.
Neuroamazing 