THE TERM “ATYPICAL” AND ITS DERIVATIVES IN DISPUTE: LANGUAGE, NORMATIVITY, AND ABLEISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY FIELD OF INCLUSION

Abstract

This essay critically examines the use of the term “atypical” and its derivatives, such as “atypical mother,” “atypical father,” and “atypical parenting,” within the contemporary context of discussions on disability, neurodiversity, and inclusion. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical review, the text problematizes the social processes through which difference is named, discussing the relationships among language, normativity, and ableism. It argues that these categories, while fostering recognition, belonging, and political mobilization, may also function as contemporary mechanisms for reorganizing normative standards, softening historical conflicts associated with disability and shifting structural inequalities toward individualized and affective frameworks. The essay further examines the tensions between the neurodiversity perspective and the disability category, particularly in relation to autism, highlighting epistemological and political disputes surrounding the recognition of difference and the guarantee of rights. In addition, atypical parenting is analyzed through the lenses of the sexual division of labor and the feminization of care in order to problematize the disproportionate burden placed on women and the social precarization of care in neoliberal contexts. The essay concludes that the use of these categories requires ongoing critical reflection to avoid reproducing subtle forms of ableism and normalization under seemingly inclusive discourses.