Atypical and Typical Behaviour/Normality and Neurotypicality

• Typical behaviour is activity that is consistent with how someone usually behaves.
• Atypical behaviour is activity that's unusual or unnatural according to how someone usually behaves.
• It's important to consider social norms, personal distress, culutural perspectives, maldaptive behaviour, and statistical rarity when debating if someone is typical or atypical.
• Cultural perspectives and norms enable different cultural contexts to be taken into account but are limited as in multicultural society, different cultural norms can influence behaviour.
• Statistical rarity provides and objective perspective, allowing for more accurate ways to categorise behaviours. However, not all are negative which makes it less helpful.
• Personal distress and maldaptive behaviour consider consequences of behaviour but what is considered maldaptive can be objective.
• Nowadays, normal is usual or ideal.
• Normality is the state of having thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are considered common and acceptable.
• Abnormality is the state of deviating from the norm, usually in an undesirable way.
• Neurotypical is used to describe someone who displays expected neurological and cognitive functioning.
• Neurodiverse is variations in neurological development and functioning such as those experienced by individuals with Autism or ADHD.
• Approaches to defining normality include socio-cultural, functional, historical, statistical and situational approaches.
• Adaptive is being able to adjust to the environment appropriately and function effectively.
• Maldaptive is being unable to adjust to the environment appropriately and function effectively.
• Neurodiversity refers to variations in neurotypical development and functioning across groups, such as those experience by people with ADHD or autism.