1. Family Media Analysis - Atypical
Anna Prost

2. Sam Gardner

3. Sam Gardner About Sam: Characteristics of the Family:
Senior in high school
Oldest son of Doug and Elsa Gardner
He is higher functioning on the autism spectrum.
His autism doesn’t stop him from learning the general curriculum in the least restrictive environment.
Loves Antarctica, especially the Antarctic penguins
He sits forward in buses because he doesn’t like the feeling of the back of the bus chair on his back.
Attends sessions with his therapist, Julia, weekly
Wears headphones because he doesn’t like loud noises.
He doesn’t always realize when other kids are picking on him and why they are laughing at him.
Characteristics of the Family:
His sister, Casey, is the only person Sam doesn’t have a break down if she picks on him.
Sam had a stronger relationship with his mom, Elsa, at first. He would go to her for anything. Towards the end of the season, though, Sam started to talk more to his dad, Doug, and want to talk to him about all of girl problems.

4. Sam Gardner Characteristics of the Family (continued):
Sam didn’t know how to show his own personality through what he wore because his mom, Elsa, would always pick out and buy his clothes for him.
Sam and his dad, Doug, started to bond over different strategies on how Sam could get a girlfriend. When a strategy didn’t work and Sam was shot down by a girl, Doug was always there to listen to Sam and help him through the heartbreak.
Even though Zahid can be over the top sometimes, Sam still values his opinion on fashion and girls and tries his best to put Zahid’s tips to practice so he can be more like him.
At first, Sam didn’t know which actions were appropriate and inappropriate when he started his relationship with Paige. He quickly learned that making a pros and cons list is more inappropriate and listening and talking is more appropriate. Being in a relationship with Paige taught Sam how to better read social cues and talk to girls, which are two things he wanted to get better at.
Sam’s relationship with his therapist, Julia, is a little odd. On one hand, Sam wants Julia to be his girlfriend because she’s pretty, listens to him, and she is easy to talk to. So he tries real hard to get her to be his girlfriend by looking nice for every therapy session and asking her questions to get to know her. Unfortunately, Julia doesn’t see Sam’s feelings for her and she ends up hurting him emotionally when she tells him that she has a boyfriend and that they would have never been able to get together.

5. Sam Gardner Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Acceptance: Since Sam has lived his whole life with his disability, he has learned how to accept it and do things that better help him both at school and home. He wears noise cancelling headphones at school in the hallway to block out the many conversations. He also learned different replacement behaviors for when he gets upset. So instead of throwing things across the room, he paces around in circles until he feels better.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Sam very badly wants a girlfriend and decides that he needs to have a practice girlfriend before he asks his therapist, Julia, to be his girlfriend. Even though a few girls shot Sam down and picked on him for being different, that didn’t stop Sam from picking himself up and trying again and again until he got a girlfriend.
Sam observes and listens to many resources, people and videos, on how to get a girlfriend before he tries to get one for himself.
Sam works hard in school and in his therapy sessions to get better at social cues and talking to people so he can learn in the least restrictive environment at his high school. And since he is getting better at reading social cues, he hasn’t had a major breakdown since he started his senior year.

6. Doug Gardner

7. Doug Gardner About Doug: Characteristics of the Family:
He is the breadwinner of the family.
He is an EMT.
He is the husband to Elsa.
He loves to run with his daughter, Casey.
He doesn’t have a very strong relationship with his son, Sam.
He is very strict about his daughter’s dating life.
He left his family for eight months when Sam and Casey were young.
Characteristics of the Family:
After learning about Sam’s autism, Doug took it really hard. He commented to Elsa on how he just wanted a son he could play catch with, but he and Sam don’t have much in common. So instead of trying to have a good relationship with Sam, Doug turned to having a good relationship with Casey. This split the family because now Elsa has a strong relationship with Sam and Doug with Casey. This doesn’t help Doug accept Sam’s disability, which makes him not always want to be the one there for Sam when he someone to listen.

8. Doug Gardner Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Anger: Doug is angry about Sam having autism that he leaves his family for eight months.
Denial: Doug is in denial about Sam having autism because he doesn’t want to accept the help and support of other families by going to support group with his wife, Elsa.
Acceptance: Doug finally accepted Sam’s autism when he heard Sam wanted to have a girlfriend. He then started to talk to Sam about how he plans to get a girlfriend, and he was there for Sam through all the heartbreaks.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Doug is not very resilient.
When he found out that his son has autism, he left his family for about eight months. After he came back, he didn’t have a very strong relationship with his son, Sam.
Doug doesn’t try very hard to have a good relationship with Sam. When Doug saw Sam pacing around his bed and he asked what was wrong, Sam said that he would rather talk to his mom about it.

9. Elsa Gardner

10. Elsa Gardner About Elsa: Characteristics of the Family:
Mother of Sam and Casey
Wife to Doug
Cheats on Doug with bartender, Nick
Goes to a support group for parents with children who have autism.
Stay at home mom
Worries about Sam and his social and dating life
Characteristics of the Family:
Elsa infantilized Sam when she first wouldn’t let him go to the mall with her to pick out his own clothes, and then when she called the clothing store asking for specific modifications for Sam. She wasn’t letting Sam grow up.
She focuses so much on Sam and his disability that she doesn’t pay attention to what Casey is up to at school and in her social life.
When Elsa found out about Sam’s disability, she dropped everything to make sure she was always there for him. While this was great for Sam, it turned out not to be so great for Elsa because when she finally started to have a social life again, she ended up cheating on her husband.

11. Elsa Gardner Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Depression: Elsa is sad that Sam is growing up and doing things on his own. She goes to a bar with a couple drinks and ends up hooking up with the bartender and cheating on her husband to cope with her grief that Sam doesn’t need her anymore.
Acceptance: Elsa accepted Sam’s disability from early on in his diagnosis. She became a stay at home mom so she could be there if Sam ever needed her. She also started to attend support groups and made her family attend an Autism Walk every year. She was trying to be involved and learn more about her son’s disability.
Resiliency Characteristics:
She is resilient in continuing to learn about Sam’s disability by attending a support group and doing an Autism Walk with the family every year.

12. Casey Gardner

13. Casey Gardner About Casey: Characteristics of the Family:
Sam’s younger sister and daughter to Doug and Elsa Gardner
Sophomore in high school
Starts dating Evan
She is on the varsity track team with colleges already looking at her for track scholarships.
Characteristics of the Family:
Casey is really close to her dad. She goes on runs with him all the time and she tells him everything. She told him that she kissed a boy, and he started to act all weird, which made Casey uncomfortable.
Casey is such a great little sister to Sam. Every day, she makes sure he gets his lunch money and she tells him that if he doesn’t have anyone to sit by during lunch, he should come find her. Being the little sister, she could totally blow him off, but she looks up to her big brother.
Casey doesn’t talk to her mom, Elsa, much. When she tried to tell her mom about her scholarship to Clayton Prep, her mom was more worried about Sam not having Casey at the same school than being excited for this amazing opportunity Casey has in her high school track career.
Since Casey knows what it is like to have a sibling with a disability, she also knows how to stand up for others who are different and getting picked on. This makes Casey a very strong member of the family.

14. Casey Gardner Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Acceptance: Casey has accepted Sam’s disability her whole life since she is younger than Sam. She treats Sam like any other teenager and brother by picking on him, and she stands up for him when other kids pick on him. That shows just how much she loves and cares for her brother.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Casey is resilient with track. She practices running everyday and works so hard that other schools are giving her scholarships.
She is resilient in keeping her strong relationship with her dad, Doug. When she found out that her dad left their family for eight months, she was very upset with him. But she loves him so much that she sat down and talked to him to hear why he left and what he was doing. It took a little bit, but their relationship became strong again.
She’s not as resilient in her school work as she is in track because she got suspended from school for a little bit and she skipped class when she found out that her dad left their family in 2004.

15. Zahid

16. Zahid About Zahid: Characteristics of the Family:
Sam’s best friend and coworker at Techtropolis
He gave Sam lots of advice on how to get a girlfriend.
Sam looked up to him for fashion advice.
He tries to be smooth in getting the ladies.
Characteristics of the Family:
Zahid’s friendship with Sam is such a great friendship. Zahid is always there for Sam when he needs help with girls or picking out new clothes that have style. He never brings Sam down with negative words, but rather switches up the words in his language so Sam understands what to change without being hurt emotionally by negative comments.

17. Zahid Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Acceptance: At work, Zahid treats Sam like any other friend by talking to him about girls and helping him with different techniques to pick up a girl. If Sam doesn’t do one of those techniques correctly, then instead of making fun of him and putting him down for it, Zahid helps Sam correct his mistake so he is able to do it right next time.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Zahid is resilient. He doesn’t give up on helping Sam get a girlfriend. When Sam doesn’t understand what Zahid is trying to tell him, Zahid doesn’t get upset. Instead, he explains it again in different words so Sam understands.

18. Paige

19. Paige About Paige: Characteristics of the Family: Sam’s girlfriend
She and Sam are in the same biology class.
She has no boundaries because she touches all of Sam’s things.
Characteristics of the Family:
Instead of laughing at Sam when she first met him, Paige treated Sam like a normal kid by saying hi to him in the hall and then asking him if he would like to study for the biology test with her.
Paige was very sensitive when she read the pros and cons list Sam wrote about her. In a way, this helped Sam read social cues because when Paige left the dinner table, Sam asked if she was mad and everyone at the table said she was.
Paige saw that Sam wasn’t always included in things at school because of his disability. Paige wanted to change that, so she came up with the Silent Winter Ball where everyone wore headphones while they danced. This was her way of including Sam in a fun high school event because he won’t feel different or be made fun of since he wouldn’t be the only one wearing headphones.

20. Paige Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Bargaining: In a way, Paige is bargaining with Sam’s disability and love for Antarctica by giving him three cards every day and if he mentions something about Antarctica, then she has to take a card away. It seems she is trying to change him to be more of a normal person.
Acceptance: After a while, Paige accepted Sam for who he is and she learned not to overstep his boundaries to upset him.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Paige is resilient by asking Sam multiple times if he wants to hang out until he said yes.
She was resilient in the beginning of the relationship by trying to find different ways to see the pros and cons list.
She was resilient with the parents about her idea of a Silent Winter Ball. She kept explaining why this idea would be a great one to include all the kids at the school, and the parents eventually agreed.

21. Beth

22. Beth About Beth: Characteristics of the Family:
Evan’s younger sister
She was picked on at school when someone wrote ORCA on her locker.
She baked Casey a cake to thank her for standing up for her.
Characteristics of the Family:
Beth looked up to Casey and Sam. When Casey was at Clayton Prep, Beth helped Casey out by holding onto Sam’s lunch money to give to him after fifth period.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Beth was resilient when she kept looking for Sam to give him his lunch money when Casey was in her interview at Clayton Prep. Beth even called Casey in hopes that Casey could maybe help her find Sam.

23. Evan

24. Evan About Evan: Characteristics of the Family:
He is Beth’s older brother.
He attends a technical college.
He went to the same high school as Casey, but was kicked out for stealing instruments from the band room and trying to sell them.
He becomes Casey’s boyfriend.
He treats Sam as a normal person who doesn’t have a disability.
Characteristics of the Family:
Not only does be stand up for his sister, Beth, but he also stands up for Casey when he sees how talented she is in track and her parents just seem to blow her off because they think it is more important that she is at school for Sam and not somewhere where she can pursue her track talent.
When Sam said he wished he was normal after a girl made fun of him and asked him if he was all there, Evan reassured him that no one is normal.

25. Evan Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Acceptance: Evan accepted Sam right away when he found out that he has autism. After he found out, Evan immediately treated Sam like he was his own brother.
Resiliency Characteristics:
Evan hangs out with Casey many times until she becomes his girlfriend.
Evan is resilient in trying to get Casey’s parents to notice her. He stands up for her about her scholarship to Clayton Prep and he is always at her practices and games cheering her on.

26. Julia

27. Julia About Julia: Characteristics of the Family:
Sam’s therapist who helps him through his social interactions with other people.
She has a boyfriend, Miles.
She is oblivious to Sam having a crush on her.
Characteristics of the Family:
Julia is a great therapist for Sam. Instead of trying to fix Sam’s disability and make him normal, Julia first listens to what Sam has to say and then she asks questions. She also encourages him to get a girlfriend because that will help him learn to talk to girls in a social setting. She also explains to him that he needs to start picking out his own clothes that show his personality because he won’t have his mom when he is out of the house.
Julia doesn’t get Sam’s hints that he wants to be his boyfriend when he keeps asking her questions about she likes and dislikes. Since she didn’t get his hints, she ended up hurting him emotionally, which put a big dent in their relationship.

28. Julia Stages of Acceptance: Resiliency Characteristics:
Acceptance: Being his therapist, Julia was very accepting of Sam’s disability and helped him through anything. They talked about school, girls, fashion, and Sam’s likes and dislikes.
Resiliency Characteristics:
She is not very resilient. When she found the chocolate strawberry under her couch, she assumed right away that her boyfriend was cheating on her. She didn’t give him a chance to explain himself before she got all judgmental on him.
She is resilient with helping Sam get a girl by continuously asking him how it is going and by helping him with his smile and questions to ask girls to get to know them.