Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2018

AuTalkz: The Big Picture

By Nikki J

“I’m an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome/ASD…and I have a lot to say! It’s both a blessing and a curse; and I don’t mind finding humor in it while teaching folks who aren’t autistic about it, and allowing others who have it to feel they aren’t alone.”

AuTalkz

Nikki Jeanette

Nikki is the creator of the webcomic “AuTalkz”. She has Asperger’s Syndrome and found relief from panic attacks by doodling. Nikki wanted to make a comic which went back to the “bare basics” of past comics: ones l like Calvin & Hobbes which could teach lessons and procure laughter without the use of bad language and-or graphic violence….she called this comic strip “AuTalkz“. “The idea was for the opinions and comedy to come from the viewpoint of someone with ASD. I decided to branch out and do something I’ve always wanted to do: Help people understand autism. My hope is that my comic can help promote understanding, particularly teachers who have students on the spectrum, parents who have children on the spectrum, and even kids and workers who have classmates and co-workers on the spectrum”. We would agree and are proud to feature Nikki and her fabulous work, AuTalkz, on aspergers101.com

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/

Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Societal Pressures and the Mask of Fitting In

This comic actually touches upon two things (though, I hadn’t intended to do that). My main point is the “mask” we put up, and then I realized that it also lightly touches upon taking things/expressions literally.

On the shorter note, people on the spectrum have difficulties distinguishing between normal tones and sarcasm. There’s also trouble understanding expressions (like “two birds with one stone”), allegories, and metaphors. When I first heard the expression “apple of my eye”, I pictured someone’s eyes reflecting apples, for example.

When I had to read stories in high school on allegory and symbolism, it all went over my head. “Watership Down” is one of my favorite novels, but I still don’t pick up on the symbolism which is apparently in the novel. I’ll explain all that in further detail when I do a comic which actually delves more into the subject. The main subject I was trying to explain with this comic is autism vs society.

Nikki Jeanette

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2018

AuTalkz

About “Liar Liar”

Lying doesn’t come easily to me, and is probably the same with a lot of people with ASD. As for being blunt, there are times when I’ll say something without intending for it to be mean, but it can come across as being rude or hurtful. It’s not because I want to hurt someone or make them feel bad, or don’t have the ability to empathize, but because I either don’t realize that it’s rude/hurtful, or because it just feels more natural to tell the truth even if that means being blunt.

By: Nikki J. Creator of AuTalkz

yusuf

Posted on Monday, October 2, 2017

Stimming and Visible Self-Calming Behaviors with Autism

AuTalkz with Nikki J.

Stimming is one of the “stereotypical” autistic behaviors. Many people think of people with autism as folks who constantly flap their hand or rock back and forth. Those behaviors are called “stimming”, which is a motion that interacts with the senses to help calm an autistic person down (self calming) if they feel overwhelmed by the environment.

Stimming is harmless, and isn’t just hand flapping or rocking. It can manifest in many different ways, but again, is all harmless.

Nikki Jeanette

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/

Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Friendship with Autism and Different Peer Groups

AuTalkz

Nikki J. is a comic artist that uses comedy to depict her personal experiences living with Autism. You can read more of Nikki’s posts on Aspergers101 here and find the rest of Nikki’s comics on her webpage here.

Besides, this, there was another time I made friends with someone 10 years younger than me. It was fun to just forget about the adult world and have fun wrestling on their trampoline or skating the local streets.

While kids can be very judgmental, I often found that the younger crowd didn’t care or question the fact that I was older than them, or see a problem with it. I never saw a problem with it, either. Friends were friends no matter what age they were.

It was also less social pressure hanging out with my younger friends.

by Nikki J

Gabriela Lemos

Gabriela Lemos was born in Porto Alegre, Brasil, and was raised in San Antonio, Texas. She is currently a student at UTSA, graduating in December 2014 with a Bachelor degree in English. Brie states that she loves language and words, and the way in which people communicate with each other. She has always been interested and attracted to the autism community. “I find those on the spectrum to be incredible in so many ways, and I believe we can all learn from each other in our different strengths and weaknesses. I would love to use my talents to aid those who are not as strong in areas which I have confidence, and in turn receive an infinite amount of lessons and aid from those who I work with. Everything you send out, comes back to you, and I plan to practice sending out love and compassion every day”. We feel so fortunate to offer Brie’s talent of writing as well as her passion for autism awareness every week through our Aspergers101 Weekly.

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/

Posted on Thursday, March 9, 2017

AuTalkz: Mainstream

Though it can be inspirational to hear that a celebrity has Asperger’s, it tends to be more annoying than anything else. Especially in the cases where someone admits it and was diagnosed long ago, but hasn’t come out and said it until now.

There are a lot of breakthroughs being made in autism research, and psychologists are starting to understand it more and more. I feel it’s become “mainstream”, even. The diagnosis rate is going up, and people are either getting diagnosed as adults or coming out and saying they’ve had it all their lives.

Nikki Jeanette

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/

Posted on Friday, January 27, 2017

Expectation Levels for People with ASD: Square blocks do not fit into circular holes

AuTalkz: Fitting the Mold

I’ve encountered a lot of people who hold me on the same expectation level as people without Asperger’s (ie, “normal” people). I don’t want to be treated too differently, but the general analogy is that if I’m a square block, I’m not going to fit through a circular hole.

The first step to any sort of progress is for parents to admit that their kid has ASD; same with employers and teachers. They have to be made aware of it and accept it. Unreasonable expectations come from ignorance or even ignoring the truth, which puts stress on everyone and is very frustrating to the person with ASD.

By Nikki J.

Aspie Artist Nikki J. is the creator and artist for “AuTalkz.” We are proud to display her insights into life on the spectrum by way of comic strips. You can see more of Nikki’s work on deviantart.

Jennifer Allen

After an extensive career broadcast marketing, Jennifer and her husband searched for answers when their oldest son hit the kinder years with great difficultly. After finally learning that their oldest son had Aspergers Syndrome, she left her career in television and became a full time mother to both of her sons. Jennifer elicited the participation of her sons and together they produced several independent programs including a children’s animated series titled Ameriquest Kids (now distributed by Landmark Media) as well as her documentary and book titled, Coping to Excelling: Solutions for school-age children diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism or Aspergers Syndrome.

The need for more information encouraged Jennifer to elicit a team of autism experts to provide weekly, original content to a website free to anyone seeking to live their best under the diagnosis of High-Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome… appropriately titled: Aspergers101.com.

Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2017

AuTalkz: The Big Picture and Hyperfocus with ASD

Hyperfocus is common in folks with ASD. This happens when someone focuses on one thing so intensely that the rest of the world is blocked off. Normal folks can also do something similar to a certain extent but when I hyperfocus on something, it’s pretty much all I can see and hear.

That does mean being able to identify small details over the overall “big picture” of a situation. I’m not completely sure if it’s related to hyperfocus, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. I enjoy detective stories and the clue gathering, but have trouble putting together the motive and any larger plot which might be occurring at the same time.

By Nikki J.

Aspie Artist Nikki J. is the creator and artist for “AuTalkz.” We are proud to display her insights into life on the spectrum by way of comic strips. You can see more of Nikki’s work on deviantart.

Jennifer Allen

Posted on Monday, October 10, 2016

AuTalkz: Meltdowns

A common mistake some people make is comparing an autistic meltdown to a temper tantrum in younger children. Often when someone is younger, they don’t know how to properly express or work out frustration which occurs during the meltdown, so there could be screaming, crying, and even thrashing.

It might look like a temper tantrum, but it’s not being done for attention or to get something like a temper tantrum is done for. It’s done because the child is overwhelmed and-or frustrated, and don’t know any other way to express it.

Gabriela Lemos

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/

Posted on Friday, March 25, 2016

AuTalkz: Wandering

Wandering is perhaps the least understood behavior of autism, and the most dangerous to the person with autism. Before I worked on this issue, I thought back to any instance where I wandered off, and what caused me to do so.

I came up with the three listed in the second panel: Boredom (or lack of stimulation), Interests, and (over) Stimulation.

Nikki Jeanette

aspergers101.mystagingwebsite.com/