On this week’s A.I.M. we take a look at humor and autism. Let’s dive in!

"My oldest is autistic, she's on the spectrum. But she's like on the badass end of the spectrum. We had a note come home, it said "Alisia's been using the F*** word... but she's using it appropriately. I'm sorry?? Was this good news?? She was diagnosed non-verbal autistic, we didn't think she was ever going to speak. You're telling me she's using F*** appropriately?! Where's my bumper sticker?!" - Jay Yoder

The field of autism is seriously polarized. Everybody has a different strong opinion on what causes autism, how to treat it, and about if we should even be treating autistic kids at all. 

Do vaccines or Tylenol cause autism? Is the Autism Barbie doll a good thing? Is ABA therapy good or bad? Should we focus on acceptance or a cure?

So in this highly charged social-media driven community, more and more people are finding relief from comedy… and specifically about autism.

The quote above about the “F” word, is comedian Jay Yoder who is the father of a non-speaking autistic daughter. His Instagram description reads “Stand-up comic and Autism Cheer Dad.”

"I'm an autism dad, of course I've watched the same 3 minute cartoon 86 times, and now I hum it  when I'm by myself like I'm possessed" - Jay Yoder

For some parents and professionals, this autism dad may sound like he’s mocking his daughter’s challenges. Is it okay for us to get a laugh from the differences we observe in autism? Should he be censored?

Yet, scanning through Jay Yoder’s Instagram and YouTube videos, there are zero negative comments and zero “thumbs down” votes. Yep, zero!

Maybe other autism parents recognize the healing power of humor.

Researchers at universities around the world have all concluded that laughing has a wide range of measurable physiological health-improving effects on our bodies. Studies at Harvard and Standford Universities in the U.S., the University of Derby in England, and Zayed University in Abu Dhabi among many others have demonstrated that laughing on a daily basis can improve your sleep quality, improve your heart and lung health, and is an antidote to memory loss.

And, this just in, from the Jonathan Alderson University of weekly A.I.M.s, laughter also just feels so darn good!

I don’t know a single parent who wouldn’t want to sleep a bit better and feel more darn good!

But beyond proven physical and mental health benefits, autistic comedians like Michael McCreary and autism parents like Jay Yoder are using their spotlight from comedy to educate the general public about autism.

"Now autism is often associated with varying degrees of difficulties with social skills, communication, and behaviors. But really, one of the greatest challenges someone on the spectrum will ever experience is being misunderstood. For instance, people often ask me "What's the biggest difference between Apsergers and Autism?" And I think I'd have to say the biggest thing would be the spelling" - Michael McCreary

Micheal McCreary, again, is a young 29 year-old autistic comedian from Canada. In all of his stand-up routines, he blends humor with autism facts and some straight talk about his lived experience. 

He uses humor to get the audience receptive to taking a different perspective… to see through an autistic mind for a few moments… to consider the common humanity and, yes, the invitation for all of us to laugh more at our own struggles and peculiarities.

There are now dozens of autistic comedians, some laughing at autism and some laughing with autism. I’ll leave it for you to decide what seems appropriate and what feels off-base.

After 20 years of working directly with parents and autistic children, I wrote a book called Challenging the Myths of Autism because I constantly bumped into negative and limiting stereotypes about autistic people in the news, in books, and even that parents themselves had absorbed from pediatricians and psychologists. 

I wanted to point to scientific research that disproves many of the common tropes and stereotypes. 

And I wanted to offer a new empowering and neurodivergent narrative.

And I think we can all agree that if this special group of comedians helps to challenge the stereotypes of autism, it’s a good thing.

In one of his more serious video posts, Jay Yoder, the Autism Cheer Dad, used his influence to speak frankly about the very real challenges that some autistic individuals experience having to navigate a neurotypical world.

"She'd have her day on Wednesdays where she goes to music therapy for a half hour and she has special needs cheerleading in the evenings. And she's really good at pattern recognition so we wanted her in activities that celebrated that. 

But it was too much for her between having school all day, having homework, having to go to piano, and then having this, because she knows her schedule, her brain got overloaded and dysregulated and how did that manifest? Well she was screaming at the top of her lungs that she didn't want to go but the minute she got there, she was great. But the whole intensity leading up to that for her caused her to scream, kick, hit my wife while she was driving. 

I can tell you this... the patience my wife had in that moment is saintly. Because I've been in those same moments with her as well and I have not handled it nearly as well as Amanda does. 

Amanda's teachin her how to fish.... And sometimes I'm only capable of giving her a fish.  And so I have to watch and learn because she knows that we're trying to empower Alisia for a world without us." - Jay Yoder 

So this week, whether you are an autism parent, an educator, or on the spectrum yourself, I invite you to A.I.M. for more laughter.

Give yourself some giggles. It doesn’t have to be about autism. There are thousands of free jokes on the internet, and endless hours of stand up comedians on YouTube.

But if you can, I dare you this week to find some humor in your own experience of autism, whatever that might be.

And if you found this helpful, please help us reach even more families by thinking of one parent or professional who you'll forward this to.

We're interested in your thoughts on laughing with autism, so take a minute now to leave your comments and personal experience in the comments section.

Because if you’re laughing with love in your heart, you are a few more steps toward acceptance.

Maybe that’s the answer to laughing with autism: If it’s done with love in your heart, maybe laughter is just another expression of acceptance?

“I’m an autism dad, of course I carry 5 back-up snacks and a laminated exit strategy for every grocery store! I'm an autism dad... of course I love her just the way she is” - Jay Yoder