Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for March 28, 2021

We’re all on the spectrum. Some a little more than others

I swear, Jack oughta write books about his adventures!

Jack is a little ball of adorable and Danae is as well for being in on the adventure. Love strips like these!

St Elsewhere, anybody?

Some people believe that autism is our next step in brain evolution. If kids can do what Jack does, I’m cool with that.

A poke on the nose (and a hit of acid) and yo can go anywhere! ;-) By the look on her face in the last panel, I don’t need to tell her.

Great, Kid! Don’t get cocky.

Can Jack take care of that problem with Alexa and Siri tomorrow?

Impressive!!!

Alien in Cel #5: How am I going to explain to AAA that I had an accident with a T-rex on Earth’s moon?

Is this a repeat?

Reminds me of Calvin’s fantasy world

Danae’s personal world could use a little shaking up….

Someone said that today’s Prickly City was a bit Calvin and Hobbes.

I’d say today’s Non Sequitur is very Calvin and Hobbes today.

A little more bizarre than Calvin and hobbes I think..

@Wiley, I know you read these comments. More Jack please. (And Lars if at all possible)

I just realized this is a St. Elsewhere homage thing. Or, maybe not, but it certainly could be inspired by it.

If memory serves me right, Jack is inspired by one of Wiley’s family members

It’s good to read that Wiley understands the findings of the neuroscientist. So sad that we don’t elect people who also understand that the world is not just one or the other but an infinite number of ways a person can be born.

um… thank you? :D

Happy Passover (Pesach) to all.

I love this. My son is on the spectrum. He takes me on wild adventures too.

Dear Wiley,

I love strips about Jack and his special world.

Thank you.

It is probably too late, but I would love it if you were to do something special with Jack for April.

Dinosaurs in Space. I’m getting a Dr. Who vibe here. I wonder if Jack has been inside the Tardis?

Well, she asked if she could join him…

Danae’s greeting in panel 2 should never be used in an airport!

For those that think raising an Asperger’s Syndrome child is all blue skies and roses, think a very demanding child who does not go to sleep until 11:00PM (yes 2300) and gets up at 0300 AM expecting to be coddled to. Will lie on the floor outside the bedroom and unrelentingly kick the door until everyone is up. Yes there is more ……..

“BINK” me next, please.

Imagination is reality that just hasn’t happened yet.

Well it’s about time.

Small nit (well, not really, but I wanted to post something) — with a “full Earth” in the sky, it would be night on that side of the moon. Deep, dark, night. (OK, maybe we can see what we see because of Earthshine. Problem solved.)

Thank you for your attention.

He needs to meet Calvin & Hobbes

Just a little ditty, about Jack and Danae…

They should have gotten Wiley to write the sequel to "Independence Day ".

Love this! Any strip with Danae in it is gold.

I’m about to be brutally honest here, but please focus on the honesty part rather than the brutality, OK?

Homo sapiens has existed as a species for about a million years. And a major part of our continued success was the fact that we’re an incredibly social species, and mothers in particular are genetically programmed to look out for their offspring for years, as these big honkin’ brains (which are our main evolutionary advantage) continue to grow to adult size. (Compare this to newborn colts or calves strugging to their feet within minutes of being born.) Nonetheless, no matter how socially protective we are, there are limits. During our megayear on Earth, natural selection would’ve weeded out most autistic humans before they could ever reproduce. Most of them would’ve been either eaten by predators or abandoned when the going got too hard. We’ve reversed that in modern times. An autistic child who wanders away from a family picnic in the mountains and gets killed by a puma (which is simply following its natural instincts) will be avenged by a posse of humans taking out every mountain lion (or anything vaguely resembling a mountain lion) for 4 counties in every direction.

Autism is less like a valuable survival trait than an occasional anomaly, probably caused by genetic mutation but not as lethal as, say, Huntington’s Disease, thalassemia, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs Disease, or sickle-cell anemia. It’s hell on the family members who have to deal with it, which makes them both heroes and victims. But imagining that there’s something wonderful going on inside that closed box is just a rationalization due to wishful thinking. In any event, as long as that box remains closed (and there’s zero evidence that it will ever open), it’s no different than if Shakespeare had lived his entire life inside a closed cottage, fed thru a window, and the whole place had burned down along with all his papers when he turned 50. A tragedy, yes, but a waste? Who would know?

Just wondering, with all of her discussions and adventures with Lucy, is Danae on the spectrum also?

Chag Pesach Sameach & “a zissen Pesach” (a sweet Passover), everyone!

I think I really like Jack.

Hmm. Is not each of us on some “spectrum” or ’nother, defining our shared commonality and special genius at the same time?

I wish that part was true. For many with Autism it is a labor to get through the day.

Jack isn’t really “On the Spectrum”.

It’s just that, what with all the Important tasks he’s responsible for, he doesn’t have much time to pay attention to our “Reality”.

Thank you, Jack.

My problem with Jack is presenting him as a magic child with enviable abilities to see wonder in life and sometimes share this. As a person on the spectrum myself, I can sometimes see amazing things (how things fit together and how things work in a deeper way than many others), but I have serious deficits as well. When I was young I was distressed enough by my failures to connect with my peers that I even considered suicide while I was in my later grade school days. Maturity has brought me stability, but I don’t want to present autism as if it were all the cool stuff and none of the tragedy.

“AH…HE’S ON THE SPECTRUM, RIGHT?”

(wonders about this “SPECTRUM”)

“AND YOU’RE WELCOME, EVERYBODY”

(does not like this dialogue)