By Ashley Watts
Student Reporter
Atypical is about a high functioning autistic, teenage boy who is adjusting to life and to graduating from high school.
In season one, Sam Gardner, a senior in high school, faces many obstacles when he tells his family that he wants to start dating, but the person he likes is his therapist, Julia.
When his parents refuse for him to date Julia, Sam finds a girlfriend his age and she actually likes him for all the right reasons.
Sam’s mom, Elsa, and his sister, Casey, are also having trouble adjusting to their new lives. Elsa starts having an affair with a bartender, and Casey receives track scholarship to a prestigious high school.
Season two starts with Sam’s parents separated because of his moms affair, but as the season goes on they get back together.
Sam’s sister, Casey, is still at Clayton Preparatory School, and she is having trouble fitting in.
Casey finally befriends the captain of the track team, and her time at school slowly gets better; however, Casey realizes that she likes her friend as more as a friend and things get awkward between them.
Sam does something he wouldn’t normally do at the end of the season. He breaks out of his comfort zone and gives the valedictorian speech. Paige is originally supposed to give the speech, but her voice is hoarse from yelling at other students that bullied Sam throughout high school.
Season two comes to an end with Sam graduating and getting accepting into college. Sam follows his passion for penguins and continues to learn about them while in college.
I would give this show a rating of 4 out of 5 stars because it takes us into the live of a high functioning autistic boy and the struggle of high school. Sam Gardner shows us what is it like to be a teenager with autism.
He says everything that is on his mind, has fits if everything is exactly like it is supposed to be, and like many other high school kids he has a passion. The producers of Atypical tried to do something that other producers have failed to do.
They took us into the life of a normal family that has an autistic kid, and showed us that there are struggles with parenting these type of kids. Many shows have failed to show us this, but Atypical does it brilliantly. I would highly recommend watching this show.