Most comic books follow a classic formula. There’s the superheroes, the villians, and of course, the epic battles of good versus evil. But Face Value comics deviates from that a little bit by featuring Michael, the series’ fearless leader who has autism.
These original comics were created by Pennsylvania-based mental health professional Dave Kot, who is autistic himself. His aim for the series? To not only help shift public perception about the disorder, but also to provide kids on the spectrum with a hero they can relate to. In the story, Michael struggles with being accepted in school, as well as other challenges that superheroes face—you know, like intergalactic invasions. In fact, in a video published on TruthAtlas, Kot explains that his favorite scene in the series is where Michael gets ready to walk into his first day of school. The page is printed upside down—but it’s not a mistake. “It might appear that Michael is upside down. He kind of is. But it was done intentionally,” Kot says. “Readers have to literally change their perspective to look at a person with autism differently than they may have expected. And that’s the point of what we’re doing with the comic book.”
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The comic’s illustrations are unique in that they focus closely on the characters’ facial expressions as a way to help readers better understand how autistic individuals respond to certain situations. “Freeze-framing a facial feature allows a reader to understand what the facial feature looks like, and that’s one level of what we’re doing with the comic book,” Kot says. “The second level uses speech bubbles to give language to what that feeling is. So you actually begin to understand, when a character says, “I’m angry,” and then you can begin to match up that language to the facial expression. The entire story helps place the situation in context, on what maybe made them angry, and what that looks like… That helps build empathy.”
Right now, Face Value comics are sold in a few independent comic books stores in central Pennsylvania. The first issue can also be digitally downloaded or ordered online. So far, the reception has been extremely positive, with Kot saying that the first run of 100 comics sold out in just a few days, right around Christmas. In-stores sales are also strong, and Kot says he’s received fan mail from people around the world. “We’re just one voice,” Kot says. “But it’s one voice that isn’t being heard in the comic book market, and it’s one voice not being heard in a lot of social advocacy. And this sets up a dialogue to be able to talk about what autism is, and what it isn’t.”
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Tag: autistic
When This Dad Looked at His Autistic Son, He Saw a Business Opportunity Not a Handicap
When David Friedman’s autistic son, Matt, turned 14, the family was faced with a reality check: How would Matt get through high school and find a job that would allow him to support himself? According to Autism Speaks, a national advocacy organization, almost 90% of young adults with autism are currently unemployed. “This represents a vast amount of high-potential human capital, sitting around untapped,” Friedman wrote in an AdAge column. He knew that Matt could thrive in a work environment that supported his (and other autistic adults’) unique talents, such as pattern memory, extreme focus and accuracy. As a corporate executive, Friedman also recognized that some of the most tedious, process-oriented tasks at large companies, such as website maintenance, data entry and software testing, are either outsourced or handled by junior-level employees who find the processes mundane, leading to high turnover rates and drops in quality. But these jobs — with their patterns and details — are perfectly suited for individuals with autism. It was just a matter of connecting the two.
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Friedman left his corporate job and founded AutonomyWorks, an organization that offers its clients a pool of highly trained workers, all with autism spectrum disorder, who can perform these process tasks with the utmost precision. AutonomyWorks takes a job, breaks it into clearly defined tasks and assigns it to one of their associates, who completes them, while adhering to quality control monitors. These associates work in an office environment that is crafted to suit their needs. Each worker also receives occupational therapy, job coaching and life skills training in the workplace, so as to make them as successful as possible in their new careers.
Since launching in 2012, AutonomyWorks now employs 15 people (11 with autism and four managers). By the end of 2015, the organization hopes to have completed a service center in Chicago that would employ 300 associates, giving that many more young adults with autism an opportunity to thrive on their own.
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Meet Brad, an Autistic 25-Year-Old Who Wants to Build Your Furniture
If you’ve ever struggled to put together an IKEA dresser without wanting to commit hara-kiri with a screwdriver (and who hasn’t?), Brad has a solution — let him build it instead. Brad, who lives in Edmonton, Canada, is a 25-year-old with autism. He can’t read or speak, so he uses simple sign language to communicate. And he builds. For years, Brad has been building things — from furniture to model planes to interactive toys and more. It’s what he does best. What most people would consider a maddening and painstaking chore, Brad finds fun and easy. He can understand any diagram or blueprint, especially the wordless ones from IKEA, no matter how complicated. So with the help of his dad, Mark, Brad created a new business, Made by Brad; he’ll build any piece of furniture for you. The point is to instill a sense of accomplishment into Brad, and also to prove that people with disabilities are just as capable and dedicated — perhaps more so — as everyone else.
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