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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want someone to tell me what "NT" stands for?

78 replies

magicmummy1 · 17/01/2011 23:57

I see it on lots of threads here, and I assume from the context that it refers to children who are not disabled/don't have special needs. But I can't figure out for the life of me what it stands for.

I'm sure I'm being thick, but would someone please rescue me from my ignorance? Blush

OP posts:
MardyBra · 17/01/2011 23:57

National Trust?

JarethTheGoblinKing · 17/01/2011 23:58

Neuro typical (i.e. children that are 'normal')

ShowOfHands · 17/01/2011 23:59

There's an acronyms list but yes, it's neurologically typical.

Woodlands · 18/01/2011 00:00

i wondered this. i believe it's neuro-typical.

magicmummy1 · 18/01/2011 00:00

Ah, thank you Jareth - I feel a bit better now, as I probably wouldn't have got to that one on my own. Nice to actually know what it means!

Mardy - nice try with the National Trust, but not quite what I was looking for! Wink Thanks anyway!

OP posts:
BialystockandBloom · 18/01/2011 00:00

Neurotypical. ie no special needs. Don't worry, you're not being thick - it's only generally common parlance once you have a child with sn!

mutznutz · 18/01/2011 00:00

I asked on a thread and it means 'Neuro typical'

To be honest, it pisses me off all these ever changing new phrases. I don't see why it's replaced 'Non disabled' but there you go.

DuelingFanjo · 18/01/2011 00:01

thank you, I always wondered what it was.

Catnao · 18/01/2011 00:02

I wondered that too...

magicmummy1 · 18/01/2011 00:02

Oops, x post with a few! ShowOfHands, I hadn't realised that there was an acronyms list, but thanks to your post, I have just found it - it may come in handy! Grin

BialystockandBloom - thanks for the reassurance. I'm normally able to figure out what the acronyms stand for, but wasn't getting anywhere with this one!

OP posts:
JarethTheGoblinKing · 18/01/2011 00:04

mutznutz because 'disabled' isn't a catch all for everybody that's not NT. :)

Goblinchild · 18/01/2011 00:08

You are NT, my son is ND
Neurologically Diverse.
'Neurodiversity is an idea which asserts that atypical neurological development is a normal human difference that is to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. Differences may arise in ways of processing information, including language, sound, images, light, texture, taste, or movement.
It's been around a fair while, over a decade. We've just gone mainstream instead of staying in our designated pigeonhole.

mutznutz · 18/01/2011 00:14

mutznutz because 'disabled' isn't a catch all for everybody that's not NT

Fair do's but how long til it's changed again just like every other familiar phrase? to be honest even if it wasn't put in to an acronym, it's still not that easy to instantly recognise and understand during a conversation.

It's like 'CSP'...apparently that's a 'Care Service Provider'..the new name for a Carer...and the new name for a person being cared for has already escaped my memory despite having heard it the other day Hmm

Goblinchild · 18/01/2011 00:19

It is the nature of all languages to change and adapt as situations, circumstances and understanding change.
We've moved on from Retarded, Mongol and Educationally Sub-Normal that were the terms in use when I started teaching, and let's hope we continue to make progress.

smiledotcom · 18/01/2011 00:19

I don't believe this.

Can't we call normal kids "normal" anymore?

JarethTheGoblinKing · 18/01/2011 00:21

I don't think 'NT' is a familiar phrase tbh. I've only ever come across it on MN, and that's probably because I don't know any families with children that aren't NT.

magicmummy1 · 18/01/2011 00:21

"Can't we call normal kids "normal" anymore?"

Probably not, because the implication of that would be that others are "abnormal".

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 18/01/2011 00:21

Well, DS prefers the terms mundane and ordinary to describe you lot.
Perhaps it's because if you are not normal, that's when the witch hunting, marginalisation and need to make all conform to the norm get going in some areas.

magicmummy1 · 18/01/2011 00:23

Grin at mundane and ordinary. Sadly, that sums up me pretty well!

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 18/01/2011 00:24

NT/ND are in common usage on specialised fora, but some of us are crawling out of the box and mixing with the ordinary people and bringing the terminology with us.
It's not a threat to anyone, just another bit of information.

magicmummy1 · 18/01/2011 00:28

Thank you Goblin. Personally, I like people to educate me about these things. :)

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 18/01/2011 00:29
Smile 'You're not normal' How does that make the recipient feel?
ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 18/01/2011 00:34

Ahem, I have a habit of posting sn stuff wherever I fancy, nuffink wrong with that is there ??

I ALSO have a habit of being murdered because of it from people who later claim they 'don't understand sn stuff'

For that reason I will continue to dot special needs shite over the boards

I was of course not unreasonable Wink

Goblinchild · 18/01/2011 00:40
WilheminaAteHer · 18/01/2011 00:42

Goblin, that's fascinating about NT/ ND, I too had never heard of those concepts described that way before.

Has anyone examined the idea of there being a continuum of neurological diversity, rather like in mental health where you can slide from 'typical' (or, I suppose, 'good' m health) to 'atypical' (or 'poor' m health)? It seems fitting that variations on neurological diversity would be better described as different aspects of the same picture rather than as two distinct groups, which 'NT/ ND' appears to do.

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