Imagine navigating the world with a unique perspective that often feels misunderstood, and then finding a way to translate that experience into laughter and insight for others. In Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary, published in 2019, he blends humor with heartfelt stories, offering readers a unique glimpse into the life of a young comedian navigating the challenges of living with autism. McCreary, a stand-up comedian diagnosed with autism at age five, shares his journey with authenticity, making his story both compelling and relatable. Its literary merit lies in McCreary's ability to use humor as a lens to explore serious issues, and its readability stems from his engaging narrative …show more content…
As he states, "Comedy isn’t just about making people laugh. It's about making people think" (McCreary 92). By intertwining humor with serious commentary, McCreary creates a balanced narrative that respects the main point of the subject while making it accessible and engaging. This approach ensures that the book is both impactful and respectful, enhancing its overall literary merit and appeal. McCreary's humor serves as an effective tool for exploring and addressing serious issues related to autism, thereby enhancing the book's literary merit. In the book, McCreary writes, "People are always surprised when I tell them I'm a comedian. They think I must be a serious, tortured artist because I have autism, but really, comedy is how I process the world" (McCreary 45). This quote illustrates how McCreary uses humor to navigate and make sense of his experiences with autism. By framing his challenges and observations through comedy, he offers readers a relatable and accessible entry point into understanding autism. Humor not only entertains but also disarms the audience, making them more receptive to the deeper, more serious messages about acceptance and
“The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal” by Jonathan Mooney is the story of his journey around the U.S. in short bus nonetheless to meet with different children and their families who have faced challenges in school due to ADD, ADHD, Autism, and other learning disabilities. Jonathan Mooney himself faced the disability of Dyslexia and often had to deal with many challenges in school himself, but he appears to be one of the more fortunate ones, who was able to grow from his disability and ultimately get a degree in English. Needless to say, his book and journey lead the reader to question what really is “normal”, and how the views of this have caused the odds to be stacked against those who don’t fit the mold. Throughout, this story, for me personally however, this story gave several events that I found moving, and had the potential to influence my further work in education.
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism, written by Temple Grandin is a non-fiction novel based on the author’s life growing up with autism. The author also shares her life now including her job, medical journal, and an autobiography. However, many things such as thoughts, treatment, and medication has changed since the book was written. The copyright of the novel is Second Vintage Books Edition, January 2006, published in the United States. The novel includes pictures of the author’s childhood, current age, and her work located towards the middle of the novel. Thinking in Pictures can be purchased online from Amazon for around ten dollars and the ISBN thirteen digit number is 978-0-307-27565-3.
...m causes him to struggle with many things that a normal person would not have a hard time with. If following someone without autism readers would not be able to see the difficulties for an autistic. This scene, or the entire book, would not be nearly as captivating. Christopher’s role throughout the story is not only to narrate but also to pull readers into the life of an autistic.
What is Autism? It’s a developmental disorder that impairs one’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Christopher Boone from the novel A Curious Incident in the Nighttime and Temple Grandin, who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry both fall on the high-functioning spectrum of autism. Even so, they do not display the exact same traits and behaviors. Whereas Grandin thinks in pictures and employs this unique gift for practical use, Christopher thinks in patterns and fails communicate his talents with others. However, they both speak their mind and have trouble understanding facial expressions and emotions.
Whilst the concept of autism and what it means to be autistic is still widely unrecognised by many, Mark Haddon’s use of conventions of prose fiction and language amplifies the distinctive qualities of the text. Haddon exemplifies key themes such as the struggle to become independent, the nature of difference and the disorder of life through the strategic placement of literary devices.
Media can be used as an educational tool, it has the ability to teach individuals things they would typically stay ignorant to. The film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape showcases autism. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Arnie, an eighteen year old that appears to be living with autism in the 1980’s. The movie shows how Arnie’s cognitive disability affects his family and his day to day life. Through the work of the screenwriter, Peter Hedges, the viewer is able to see an accurate portrayal of autism and how it changes the lives of the people surrounding Arnie. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is able to do all of this while maintaining clinical accuracy and informing the masses on a topic that is not widely discussed.
Various populations can benefit from the therapeutic use of humor, often it is used with either the exceptionally young or old populations, but the benefits of humor extend beyond age and gender limits. Commonly, it’s implemented in young populations with severe to mild physical or mental disabilities or with those experiencing serious and terminal illness (Saper, 1990). Humor is used as a method of coping with or coming to terms with life changing illnesses for both old an...
Christopher Boone is an autistic teenager who is coping with depression. Some people think depression is when someone is feeling melancholy, or gloomy, but depression is a long-term illness that affects someone and the people around them by obstructing that person to live a normal life (“Depression” 1). Christopher cannot live an everyday life because of his condition. He has the inability to comprehend what people tell him. This is exhibited when he does not understand his father’s joke (Haddon 8). In addition to not being able to comprehend, he also feels trapped when he is around a crowd of people. This is revealed when he is on the train and he states, “There were lots of people on the train and I didn’t like that because I don’t like lots of people I don't know and I hate it even more if I am ...
The autobiographical novel, Somebody Somewhere, by Donna Williams demonstrates the road to recovery by an autistic, with multiple personality disorder. Williams reveals her battle with day to day encounters with family, friends, colleges and aquantences, because she cannot communicate with them. Chris Slater, an 18 year old, recovering, socially functioning autistic explains autism as “communication disorder”. He feels that autistic people “don’t have the ability or the instinct...
In his essay "Autism and Culture," Joseph Straus discusses the recreation of the concept of autism as a cultural and social category rather than a medical one. He also discusses how, as autistic community has emerged, autistic people have begun to look for historical figures that could be identified as autistic. Straus calls this practice "extremely problematic" (Straus 464) because he feels that the concept of autism is a modern social construction and that classifying historical figures as autistic denies this. However, associating prominent historical figures with autism has the benefit of providing autistic communities with role models and a sense of community through their shared history. Attempting to diagnose historical figures with
Admittedly, when I first chose to explore autism, I figured it would be an easier psychological issue to discuss than bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia. Only after researching autism for an hour or so, I quickly realized this was not the case. Autism may very well be one of the most complex and examined disorders, for it’s a disorder that stirs up tons of questions yet yields very few answers. So what exactly is it? What are the causes and symptoms? Is there a cure? How many people are affected by autism? Is it being properly portrayed in mainstream media? In this paper, I’ll do my very best to touch on these questions and hopefully leave the ones reading with a better understanding of this disorder.
Somebody Somewhere offers a rear glimpse of the world of autism—from within. Australian born Donna Williams was diagnosed as psychotic at the tender age two, later as deaf, and ultimately as autistic; “Autism had had me in its cage for as long as I had ever known” (p. 5). In her book she describes her escape from “my” world, into “the” world. She talks about “picking up the pieces after a war” and “learning how to build somewhere out of nowhere and a somebody out of a nobody” (p. xi); yet she has something for everyone: “within each of us there is a stranger (or strangers) lurking in the shadows of our subconscious minds” (ibid). The author
Autism is something to embrace, not conquer” (211). But sometimes the message of hope. love, and struggle can best be understood from the lips of a child. In an article written by nine-year-old Joey Cariello, he simply stated: “I try to be the best brother I can. (I like him just the way he is even though he has autism)”
Andrews, K. (2002). Interpreting autism: a critique of Davidson on thought and language. Philosophical Psychology, 15(3). Retrieved from:
...to grow and increase yearly, one can imagine the effect on society these rates already have, and can possibly have with continued growth. It will not be long before autism becomes the normal society. That is a concern will should all share as creatures of earth. All families that are faced with autism will find happiness with the life shared with an autistic individual. Sadly, these individuals face bullying, and social rejection. They deal with health care rejections, and limited services available into adulthood. A future unknown. Although these individuals are different, that doesn’t mean they are less. As humanity, we need to treat everyone as an equal part of this important reality we call existence. Autistic individuals are the quietest souls, but that may only be because we haven’t learned to pay attention. Autism speaks, so isn’t it time to listen (htt1)?