Allism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of being non-autistic, meaning having neurological development and social processing typical of most people
2. Neurotypical development and functioning considered as the opposite of autism, especially in discussions of neurodiversity
3. The state of a person whose neurological make-up is not on the autism spectrum, often used in contrast with autistic traits

Etymology: Allism was coined in 2003 by Andrew Main, who wrote under the online name Zefram, as a deliberate counterpart to autism. The word pairs the Greek prefix "allo-", meaning "other", with the "-ism" suffix that English uses for conditions and states. Autism, by contrast, takes its "auto-" from the Greek for "self", and Main's pairing was meant to describe the two neurological patterns as mirror images: autism describing a neurology integrated around the self, and allism describing one integrated around others. Because the term was built deliberately from existing parts rather than inherited from older usage, its history is short and traceable to a single source. It exists to name the non-autistic majority as a condition in its own right, so that people are not defined only by contrast with the autistic term.