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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask you what a "neurotypical" person is like?

153 replies

SplishSplash123 · 13/10/2025 21:59

I am a bit intrigued as to whether it's reasonable to think that NT people are put on a bit of a pedestal at times and assumed to have none of the issues that ND people have, when in reality I think most of us (NT and ND) have areas of strength and weakness and it's perfectly possible for someone to be NT and procrastinate/be forgetful/struggle with time blindness etc.

This comes from a debate with a friend recently where she said a parking fine should be voided if someone has ADHD because they have a reasonable excuse. She didn't accept my argument that it would then be just as valid for someone without ADHD, who might generally be forgetful, or who was simply having a very stressful day, to have also had a reasonable excuse.

I also see this in work sometimes, where people without reasonable adjustment passports are told to "get on" with things they struggle with (e.g. having to spend more time answering the phones to cover for colleagues who have had this part of their job taken away from them) without any understanding that this can be stressful and draining for some NT people too.

To be clear, I'm not saying people with ND don't have any right to reasonable adjustments/reasonable excuses etc (I believe they absolutely do!) but to want to acknowledge that we can all struggle with things at times and need a bit of understanding/support.

OP posts:
Blahdiblahblahr · 13/10/2025 22:07

well your friend is being silly. If someone has ADHD and, as a consenting and functioning adult has gone and got a car and driven it, they need to be responsible for it, set alarms if they are forgetful, etc.

But for neurodiversity to be neurodiversity and not just a personality quirk it needs to be a clinical / not normal degree. So that’s your answer basically. But we still need to follow the same rules (ie: the law) that the neurotypicals do!

Noras · 13/10/2025 22:07

I think it’s to do with the degree.

The issues with my DS are quite something else.

He is classed as highly vulnerable - you would have to live it to understand. It’s not a bit of forgetfulness it’s every day having to carry the responsibility for him. In essence it’s having an adult child with the life skills of a 10 / 11 year old.

takealettermsjones · 13/10/2025 22:03

Of course we all struggle with different things sometimes, but my understanding is that to get a diagnosis of something like ADHD one has to show that it is significantly impacting one's life. So it isn't the same thing as just being forgetful.