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Atypical (the tv show)

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I think the girlfriend of the kid is in the AS too. She reminds me of myself when I was her age.
My son's favorite animals are penguins :D and dolphins (but they are not his special interest). I had a period of time, when I was a teen, when my special interests were whales and pandas.
Actually, she's my heroine. I should have done some scene like the decapitation of the huge penguin plush toy, in front of the house of an aspie boyfriend that I had back then :D. That's my favorite scene.
 
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I wasn't a huge fan of the show's depiction of a boy with autism, but the show itself was pretty entertaining. It was just a little unsettling to me that his 'awkwardness' and autistic traits were often the butt-end of jokes. Like they were trying to get you to laugh at his autism. Also, I felt like they made him into too much of an autistic stereotype. It was like an NT did some research on autism and gave him every trait he could possibly find. I believe that totally negates the whole idea of the 'spectrum'. We're all different.
 
MrSpock said:
Atypical is a tv series that recently aired on Netflix. Thanks to AdultAspie69 for mentioning it in the thread "Emotions and logic - is it me?".

There are so far only eight episodes released, I watched them all in less than a day, thought it was great. I've never been so able to identify with a character in television. I recommend it as entertainment for anyone (adult), I hope that I can convince NT's I know to watch it as a source of information about those of us on the spectrum. Possibly it will be valuable to us on the spectrum as well, it follows the efforts of a youth with ASD to get a girlfriend. He has help from understanding NT's, much more help than many of us will have had.
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You're welcome
 
I don't know. I had mixed feelings about the show. I thought it was funny. Like, the penguin beheading was hilarious. Or when the main character (whose name I forget) tried awkwardly smiling at the girl in the tech store, I cracked up laughing. The awkwardness in flirting is totally relatable and so was a lot of other topics touched on in the show. But at the same time I felt that the main character seemed a little too stereotypical. Although, considering that I haven't seen another show like this ever... I think it was an ok start. I would watch the next season. I would also love to see more shows like this with a main character who's on the spectrum and from different points of view.
 
I recently finished watching the first season and thought it was a fairly accurate portrayal of someone on the spectrum. But the character with autism seems to have no problem with the use of a full vocabulary when speaking. Someone with ASD would struggle with stringing together many sentences in a row using a full vocabulary. I do at times at least. But the show does a good job of giving viewers insight into what he is thinking at times. Also does fairly well showing some of the sensory issues.
 
I first heard of that show on Netflix by that YouTuber who regularly posts the his version of his Autism and his awareness for Asperger's Syndromes.


I had over the weekend watched the first three episodes of "Atypical" on Netflix, the characters behavior is completely real as him being an Aspie. He has the characteristics and the stereotype of an Aspie well acted out.

I like the show so far and I enjoy it.

I had seen shows like "Monk" and "The Good Doctor". That show "Atypical" had gave me good detail on how hard it is for an aspie to score himself a girlfriend. This show makes me want to get a girlfriend, I hope that I will one day since I never tried.

How many of you like the show or hate the show?
 
I've seen the first season and thought it was pretty decent. It was nice to relate to a character in a show and what they are going through and feeling. Not that I don't relate to characters in other shows, but this hit much closer to home. There was another thread on this show that started a while back....can't recall the title of the thread though. I believe netflix has a season two planned.
 
@Aspie_With_Attitude

Not trying to be snarky or mean here, but if you are ever to end up in a relationship with a woman you might start by not saying "score a girlfriend". You "score" weed. Sorry, but when I read things like this it seems like guys think women are products. May not be at all what you are thinking but I just wanted to let you know. Sorry, I am not trying to pick on you.
 
I'm only going from the trailer and this isn't my sort of thing, but as usual it would have been much better played by an autistic person and they can't tell me they couldn't find an autistic person who could play the role, yes the person may struggle and do things unexpected to the script, but that would be the most realistic part of it and a lot of this could still be used. Also how many autistic people were involved with writing the script? Most likely none which again makes it unrealistic, the problem is many NTs who watch the series will start expecting all autistic people to be exactly the same, it creates a stereotype and that's not a good thing.

The worst thing is it appears to be somewhat of a comedy, oh it's funny "an autistic kid" ha ha ha! NOT good, how about showing someone in a wheelchair and their struggles instead, then make a comedy all about that? Ha ha, he's struggling to get up the kerb. Of course it's bad taste, but this series is in my opinion bordering on bad taste too, but for some reason laughing at autistic traits and struggles seems to be perfectly fine.
 
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I have mixed feelings, but I wasn't impressed with the main character (I liked the sister best). The show played up the autism for comedy (nothing new) and most of the symptom boxes were ticked off neatly, but it tried to teach something about autism at least.. which wasn't always subtle, but the effort was made.
 
The character was okayish (hey, at least it's not another math dude) but the plot was just ugh. Every show i see about a disabled character either aims to "make them normal so they'll be happy" or ship them off so they'll be happy. And then when that happens, the character's struggle to fit in becomes known as "being quirky" and it's funny, somehow. I don't find sensory issues or misinterpreting social interactions funny. It's painful. Finding friends adds to that pain, and it's not as easy as depicted. Friends don't usually last, and it hurts when they leave. Also: personal satisifaction doesn't always come from changing yourself or getting into a relationship! I'd rather see a character who realizes that they can be normal, but they don't have to be all the time, or that they can be happy on their own! We're not society's broken dolls to fix. Aspies are humans, with feelings and fears and strengths. We need to be represented that way, not as "quirky geniuses."
 
Most TV producers use neurotypical actors or actresses due to circumstances that aspires can't handle pressure.

Being an actor or an actress is apparently suppose to be a very high pressure job and most aspires wouldn't handle it.

That's why neurotypicals takes on the aspie roles instead of getting an aspie to do it.
 
Aspie_With_Attitude said:
Most TV producers use neurotypical actors or actresses due to circumstances that aspires can't handle pressure.

Being an actor or an actress is apparently suppose to be a very high pressure job and most aspires wouldn't handle it.

That's why neurotypicals takes on the aspie roles instead of getting an aspie to do it.
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I agree that some would struggle to handle the pressure, but there are also most definitely autistic people who could and in fact do...


For instance look at wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham who has been in that job for approx 30 years, since he was often presenting shows live such as Earth Live there's no chance for 2nd takes and he's got to get it right the first time, so in some ways this is even higher pressure than being a TV series or movie actor:

Chris Packham on living with Asperger's: 'I’ve spent 30 years on the telly trying my best to act normal'

Chris Packham told the world about his autism in a BBC TV documentary called Asperger's And Me last year and continues to be an inspiration to people with autism.


Did you know that actor Dan Aykroyd who was in the star cast of The Blues Brothers (1980) and the original Ghostbusters (1984) movies was diagnosed as having mild symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome? He didn't admit openly that he had autism until 2004:

Dan Aykroyd - AUTISM WIKI


I have saved my best example until last. Sir Anthony Hopkins CBE has a long career starring in numerous movies and TV shows since 1960. He is currently staring in the hit television series West World which is in it's 2nd season at the time of writing. He was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when he was in his 70s and is showing now signs of slowing down even at 80 years old, he is currently filming for a new movie called The Pope (2018) that is due to be release in November this year on Netflix where he is playing the starring role of Pope Benedict, it's not personally my sort of movie, but I'm sure some people will enjoy it and you can guarantee that the acting will be first class as always. He is probably most well known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and also in Hannibal (2001). He is in my opinion one of the finest actors ever born:

Sir Anthony Hopkins CBE said:
"There are many positives that can come from the sometimes unusual characteristics often found in those with Asperger’s. ‘I don’t go to parties, I don’t have many friends,’ he said. ‘But I do like people. I do like to get inside their heads. ‘I definitely look at people differently."
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These are just a few examples out of many.
 
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The most accurate portrayal of people with aspergers came from Seinfeld. Jerry, Kramer, George and even Ellen can be considered to have aspergers. It's unofficial, but that's the best you'll ever get in media; an unofficial portrayal.
 
I’m about half way through ATypical on Netflix.

Enjoying it so far. Although some bits are so cringeworthy I have to hide behind my arms, cover my eyes, can’t watch it! :D

The mother is a bit annoying, very OTT re protecting her son from stuff like bright lights in shopping centres etc.
 
Meh, I tried to watch the first episode of this the other week, I turned it off after 10 minutes because it was insultingly bland IMO.
 
The trouble with it being portrayed in media is they do not know how to make characters with it without it being over the top. I mean the most we could hope for is an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm were Larry finds out he's on the spectrum. Yup, that is the best we are going to get. This is made worse by all the political pandering in media now too. So now we are ensured to get characters in media that have aspergers to have all these struggles and we're made to feel sorry for them. Where is the movie about the guy working for NASA making 6 figures a year with a wife and kids? They'll never make a movie like that, not with a character with aspergers anyway.
 
I saw it several months ago. It was OK. But I had to compare it to my own struggles, & was unconvinced that it was that easy to get a girlfriend while on the spectrum. That bit sort of broke it for me. YMMV though...
 
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