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
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.” AuTalkzContinue Reading
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 tonesContinue Reading
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 byContinue Reading
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 beingContinue Reading
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 secondContinue Reading
An amusing moment I recall is when I was home from school once in high school, and had the TV on as stimulation in the background. It was running an episode of “Blue’s Clues”, and they were covering emotions. I actually got one of them wrong on the section ofContinue Reading
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 beingContinue Reading
by : Nikki Jeanette/creator of “AuTalkz” For the longest time, the word “retard” was used as a horrible insult. In fact, that’s partially the reason why the DSM changed it to “Intellectual Disability”. Hang on, I’m going somewhere with this. So, the place I saw this word thrown around theContinue Reading
