A new TV project uses comedy to help kids on the autism spectrum with social interaction

Ever since Christa Dahlstrom’s son was diagnosed with a high-functioning form of autism, he’s benefited greatly from a program at his Bay Area school which provides extra support for those skills that just don’t come naturally him, particularly the unspoken rules of social interaction.

Dahlstrom discovered that whenever she spoke with other parents—often parents of “typically-developing” children—about the techniques her son’s teachers used to help him learn things like seeing another person’s perspective or taking turns in a conversation, many of those parents asked her, “Where can I get this stuff for my kid?”

She found herself wishing there was a television show to help teach social skills the way other shows helped kids learn to read or learn about science.

There wasn’t one so she decided to make one herself.

Dahlstrom teamed up with Jordan Sadler and Liesl Wenzke Hartmann, experts in social communication and owners of Communication Therapy. They too, it turns out, had been looking for lively and engaging ways to help families reinforce the skills they were teaching to kids in therapy sessions and social skills groups.

A few years later, the three of them are leading a small team based in the Bay Area to create Flummox and Friends, an off-beat, live-action comedy that helps kids on (or near) the autism spectrum to navigate the social and emotional world.

“There are products targeting social emotional teaching on the market,” explains Hartmann. “But it’s hard to find something that adults and children can truly enjoy together. This show gives families kid-friendly language to demystify and normalize social challenges, showing that everyone is ‘flummoxed’ by social rules at one time or another.”

“Even though kids on the autism spectrum might not have the social wiring most people are born with, they’re highly intelligent and have quite a sophisticated sense of humor.” says Dahlstrom, now the Executive Producer of Flummox and Friends. “We’re creating a smart, quirky show for those smart, quirky kids: Pee Wee’s Playhouse meets The Big Bang Theory.”

The program, whose format models contemporary television comedy rather than educational videos, features the comic adventures of inventor Gideon T. Flummox, his two lab assistants and their friends.

The Flummox and Friends team is in the midst of a Kickstarter Campaign to raise $30,000 by December 9th to fund the production of a pilot episode. You can view the pitch video for Flummox and Friends on the Kickstarter Web site or get more information about the show at www.flummoxandfriends.com.