cantankerousgenerosus:

jemimaaslana reblogged your post: I thought I’d never find a term more idiotic than…

It isn’t offensive. It’s just inaccurate. To have neurotypical mean non-autistic is erasing of all those people with…

Thanks for the response. My problem with “allistic” is that it’s redundant. The word is used as the logical opposite of “autistic,” which relates to one’s self. Allistic relates to others. What about those who do not relate to others, but don’t fall into the autistic spectrum? “Allistic” erases them, but it’s treated as the more “correct” term, when it’s not really making a change. 

I didn’t see this post back then since I don’t follow this individual, nor am I able to see when people make new posts of their dash-notifications. Thus I never addressed this.

Anyway…

The term allistic is most certainly not redundant in that it serves a purpose that we did not have a specific word for before. That makes it very much not redundant, and for you to claim redundancy means you really haven’t grasped the point I explained in my reblog of your post.

Those who do not relate to others but do not fall into the autistic spectrum probably have some other label to describe them.

And why are you so concerned with a little inaccuracy in the word allistic? Sure, it may not be entirely accurate, but in that vein, neither is autistic as a descriptor of people on that spectrum. Most of us do actually relate to others - just not in the way allistic people want us to.

Accuracy or not, autistic is the label we have, and to describe something by way of its opposite is neither strange nor illogical. Thus allistic exists.

Being concerned with a little inaccuracy when putting a label to non-autistic, is extremely offensive considering the fact that inaccurate information about autistics actually gets us killed by allistic with alarming frequency.

Which inaccuracies are really the important ones here?

Hint: not the one you’re worried about.

Allistic *is* making a change since it prevents exactly what you accuse it of causing: erasure.

Using neurotypical to mean not-autistic erases everyone, who is not autistic but has non-normative neurology, such as people with Down’s Syndrome, epilepsy, etc. Allistic alleviates this problem by allowing neurotypical to actually mean what it says.

And now you’re worried about an imaginary group of allistic people who’ll be erased by the term allistic because they *don’t* relate to others? Excuse my while I laugh. If they don’t relate to others there can be two reasons for that: 1) choice, in which case the concern is a moot point and they’re probably assholes and don’t deserve our time and 2) neurology, in which case they fall into the group who would be erased by using neurotypical to mean nothing other than non-autistic, and if neurology is the reason they probably have a different label of their own, thus also not being erased - fancy that.