Atypical: Is It Relatable to Autistic Individuals or not?

"Atypical" tries to show us what is like to be an autistic teenager on a daily basis.

It’s not easy doing a portrayal of the lives of families with autistic children. And it’s even harder to show how it would be in the media. Most parents could find it insulting that their sons are shown as disabled, or in any other way that's totally out of what autism really is. “Atypical” is a television series produced by Netflix that has received positive reviews on almost every website.

But there’s an important group that is not being taken into account: autistic individuals.With neurotypical users covering the reviews, it’s hard to tell what people with autism really think about this show. Before getting into that, we’ll give a short overview of what this show’s about.

Atypical, is a comedy television series that focuses on the life of Sam, an 18 years old autistic teenager. The storyline focus on his daily experiences and the struggles of being autistic and dealing with an environment that’s definitely not suited for him. Overall, Sam’s desire is to fit in while embracing his condition.

The comedy source in the series is the reactions and behavior of Sam, due to the traits of his condition. You can tell the show tries to demonstrate the people around Sam understand well his condition and try to help him be accepted.

Atypical tries to portrait what is like for autistic teenagers to deal with life, interacting with others, finding someone to love, and being understood. Details like his overwhelming dislike for clothes with too many zippers are perfectly portrayed.

Is it relatable for autistics or not?

After doing some research on forums and social media, I’ve found that most autistic don’t relate to Sam’s way of portraying autism. Most opinions are based on how he represents a stereotype (how society sees autism) and how far he’s from what actually means being an autistic individual. Sam just doesn’t seem to care about being the “comedy” in the show.

Autistic teenagers who did receive treatment early on are more aware of their actions and tend to be quiet most of the time. Sam is completely the opposite. He is openly factual and doesn’t miss a moment to share things with everyone he comes across. That’s a major stereotype of autism, and with a deeper research, the character could’ve been played differently.

On the other hand, Sam displays an abusive behavior that’s totally different from the average autistic people behavior (again, autistic who received treatment early on). It looks as he’s more a bully than the commonly portrayed victim, which puts him in a strange position from the eyes of viewers. Again, this only adds to the wrong perception some people have about the autism spectrum.

Still, there are some factors that do represent autism. Atypical does show that besides having a difficult condition, Sam is a person with dreams and thoughts, just like everyone else. He is an autistic teenager going through one of the hardest stages of growth, and its creator did its best to let others know what it means.

Before getting fed up with reviews, my advice is that you go and watch the series. But while you do it, try to put yourself in the shoes of those who live with this condition. Try your best to see it from an atypical perspective, and you’ll come up with your own opinions about it.

The series might not be the perfect portrait of what it means to be autistic, but directors tried their best to create and develop each character.

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Autism Glass: A Solution for Gaze Avoidance

Autism glass is a set of wearable glasses that allow children to see their parents through a system and a smartphone application.

There might be a way to help your children learn how to look you in the eyes.

Every growing child faces challenges in its development. In the case of autistic children, the hardships are even more. Numbers show that only in the US there are more than 1 million cases of children diagnosed with autism in their early years. Lack of social interaction generally poses a great difficulty in the early development of these children, making it hard for them to communicate and understand others. Luckily, Autism Glass might be an effective treatment for gaze avoidance.

How do they work?

A researching team at Stanford has identified a potential solution for facial expression recognition training in autistic children. They developed a system using AI and a learning system to automate facial expressions on a screen. The system runs on wearable glasses and can deliver real-time social signals. These glasses have a camera incorporated that is connected to a smartphone.

Children wearing the autism glasses will be able to see and analyze the facial expressions of their parents, peers or friends. Also, the system records the amount and type of eye contact, so it adds an extra benefit for further studies.

It is important to clarify something: this is research conducted at Stanford and is still in process, as it barely kicked off in 2015. But as it proves it could potentially help children, some parents have decided to sign and try these glasses as a part of the study.

Leading members of the project claim that assisting parents, therapists and professionals interested on how to use the device, could be a way to take advantage of these glasses as a tool for continuous learning.

What’s interesting about autism glasses is that children can actually have fun using them. The glasses are made to educate and entertain children while they learn to understand the basics of social behavior from the comfort of their house. Children engage easily as the activities are friendly and easy to use. But the most important part is autism glasses are profitable for their development.

Currently, slots are open for families interested in participating in this investigation. All you have to do is check this website and make sure that your children meet the requirements (they’re quite a few).

There are many alternative treatments out there, all seeking for a definite solution to improve the lives of autistic individuals. One of those is Autism Soccer, a nonprofit organization that aids children in the development of early social skills and offers an environment adapted to them and full of potentials. Sign up your kids to play now or support the cause by donating!

These glasses will improve the understanding of social cues in autistic children and teens.

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ASAN: A Network for Autistics

ASAN works as a support system for the personal development of people with autism.

Communities that support autistic individuals have been mentioned and discussed abroad on this blog. Their continued labor goes on unrested, seeking to grant better life opportunities for those who want to be helped (but can’t yell it out loud). These communities consist mostly of advocates, parents, activists, and people from all walks of life. But as I mentioned in a previous post about the Autistic Pride, there are also communities of autistic advocates who support others with their own condition. Today I’ll talk about a huge network of autistic individuals: The ASAN.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a nonprofit organization run by autistics whose goal is to raise the voice for autistic people. This network was created to stand forth as a national disabilities rights organization that works for the autistic community.

Autism advocacy strives for a better world where autistic people can enjoy the same opportunities, employment and personal rights as their neurotypical peers. For the ASAN, autism is not something to be looked down upon but a generation of people who will positively change the world.

As a nonprofit organization, their activities are based on raising the awareness, leadership, and training for future self-advocates on the initiative. Most campaigns seek to inform about autism, disability rights, and proposals for systems change to the public. At the same time, they seek to empower autistic people to steer their own lives as individuals of worth.

“Nothing about us, without us!” is their way of demanding their inclusion into debates regarding the ASD. After all, it’s their condition, and no one can comprehend it better.

They also have a set of publications and contents available through their website, you can find them here. Most of the books can also be found on Amazon, so you can support them while getting informed about autism.

In the end, no one could do a better labor in understanding autism than the autistic individual. Support causes such as these! The more you help, the better future you’ll create for autistic people. Autism Soccer is another non-profit initiative that’s been working for several years training children. Their labor mustn’t be ignored either. If you’re able, contact them or donate!

With this network, many autistic individuals share experiences for their personal development.

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Differences between Asperger’s and Autistic children

Both of these conditions affect children differently, and knowing how each develop can help you understand your child.

Today’s communities focus on the task at hand: to provide a better place for those who struggle in life. Overall, the mission has succeeded for the most part. Autism and Asperger’s share the spectrum and have some similarities, but they are not the same. Even though many individuals are diagnosed with ASD, there’s still confusion about which condition is which. Early diagnosis isn’t enough: the differences must be explained so they can be fully understood as different disorders.

Asperger

Children with Asperger Syndrome show difficulties in social engagement. They find it challenging to identify and show their feelings. Another feature they show is the lack of eye contact or avoidance, meaning they end up having difficulties to understand and read the faces and gestures of other people.

Autism

Autism presents itself at an early age. It is most noticeable because children expose unusual behavior compared to neurotypical peers. Autistic children avoid social engagement almost entirely. Unless they are high-functioning (which is a condition similar to Asperger’s) it might be hard to communicate effectively with them. Another characteristic of autism is a repetitive behavior in their daily routine and the necessity to follow schedules.

Are they really different?

So far, it seems as these two are not that different after all. The behavior expressed by both Autistics and Asperger’s individuals tends to confuse, and more if we face a case of high functioning autism.

The fundamental difference between these two comes at early stages of growth: whereas autistic children have language's delays and difficulties, Asperger’s show no signs of delay in language development whatsoever.

Later on, children with AS tend to be socially awkward, which isn’t quite the same compared to their Autistics peers. Why and which patterns AS follow? There’s isn’t a clear answer, but they’re unquestionably different in certain behavioral aspects.

Research has come a long way in the attempt to understand what makes Autism what it is and why there are so many similarities with other cognitive disorders. The Autism Spectrum still puzzles scientists today, but there’s yet to be done regarding research and awareness of this condition.

On a brighter note, Autism Soccer happily opens their doors for children with developmental difficulties in manners of social interaction and communication. These challenges and complications are worked on during their soccer practices. Don’t worry! Your children won’t get hurt since they have professionals that will make sure everything comes out right. All you have to do now is give them a call!

These conditions share some similar triats, and you need to learn them.

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Vaccination and Autism: Debunking the Myth

Confirm the veracity of this myth about vaccines and autism.

Knowing how to differentiate a myth from a fact can prove difficult sometimes. Most misconceptions are troublesome because they go way back in time, making them hard to stop existing. Sadly, there are many myths around autism. Between those, there’s a question that’s still in general discussion: Are vaccines responsible for autism? Before asserting a big “No,” let’s get some facts into this debate.

Public health, clinicians, and professionals have been in a constant fight against misconceptions related to vaccine safety for more than a decade. Numerous studies have completely dismantled this hypothesis and succeeded to prove there's no proved relation between autism and vaccines. However, there’s still an enormous amount of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of fear.

The current drop in immunization rates is directly related to the recent resurgence of several diseases (vaccine-preventable ones), which had even been eradicated for years. Most parents fear of vaccines with the concern of potential long-term side effects. This just worsens the risk of children contracting diseases (some of them with actual permanent effects or potential death risk) that could be prevented through vaccination in the first place.

Fear around vaccinations is entirely unfounded. The main source of this fear comes from an old study published in 1997, by Andrew Wakefield. It wasn’t only because of the study, but because it was released in The Lancet (a prestigious medical journal), that most readers ended up believing this misconception.

The article stated that the measles, rubella and mumps vaccine was increasing the autism rate in the children population. Luckily, these studies were discredited due to ethical violations and serious procedural mistakes. The paper was immediately retracted, and Andrew Wakefield lost his medical license afterward.

Even though this "study" was completely debunked, the hypothesis stayed in people’s minds, causing a snowball effect that has survived to this day. Thankfully, technology today has helped to fight this off, partly thanks to that in most of the cases the evidence of autism is discovered before the kids receive any vaccine.

No, vaccines do not trigger autism, they prevent diseases instead. Don’t think twice and get your children protected from any future complications. Also, there’s another tool you can get to lend your children a hand: put them to play some sports with Autism Soccer! They have been supporting the autism initiatives for many years now, contact them, and your children will thank you later!

There are several myths surrounding vaccines and autism, even to this day most people believe vaccines trigger this disorder.

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Can Autism be Genetically Investigated?

Scientists are looking at the genetic code to identify the patterns and causes for autism.

Almost everything that defines who we are is rooted in our genetics. If you have read stories about identical twins separated at birth, you’ll find a similar pattern in their behavior and certain life decisions. Taking out the fact that each person life's conditions are different, there’s an obvious pattern in genetics that can be traced down. Now, autism is still clouded with some uncertainty about its origins and occurrence, but can autism be genetically investigated?

Getting back to the identical twins referent, there’s a lot of information about their genes that is related to the investigation of autism. It happens that if one of them has autism, the chances of the other to having this condition as well are higher. Since genes are shared among identical twins, this evidence indicates that the roots of the spectrum have a lot to do with the genetic.

Autism is not such an uncommon disorder. According to this study, 1 out of 68 people has it. The chances of having other children with it increase to 15% and it doubles if there are two or more children. Of course, this doesn’t mean autism can't occur out of anywhere. DNA always changes over generations, which means that determined new genes or the lack of them can easily lead to an autistic newborn, even if the family didn't have autism records before.

Most of this research was done in groups of less than 100 families who have at least one autistic child, which means these results require a closer look and further investigation. But the truth is the concern shouldn’t be if autism can be studied genetically, but to find tangible solutions for autistic individuals to be successfully understood in society.

It is clear that genetics play a role in the autism puzzle, and given that information, scientists can continue to unravel the mysteries that hide behind it. As for now, the labor of helping autistic individuals to accomplish their goals remains. Autism Soccer is continuously trying to support the development of autistic children: they have the facilities ready, a staff of professionals and the good will to help. Reach for them and see it yourself!

This condition has been studied for years, but in the last decade genetics are beginning to be a crucial key to scientist.

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