What is atypical?

Atypical means something is not the usual or expected kind, it’s like when your favorite toy does something totally new and different.

Imagine you have a red ball that bounces really high every time you throw it. That's typical for this kind of ball. But one day, you get a blue ball, and instead of bouncing, it rolls slowly across the floor like a sleepy turtle. This blue ball is atypical, because it doesn’t do what most balls do.

• It’s different from others in a group.
• It might act or look unusual compared to what you expect.
• Sometimes people are atypical too, they think or behave differently than the rest of the class, but that's okay!

Think about your friends: most might like chocolate ice cream. But if one friend loves spicy mango sorbet instead, that friend is atypical in this group. Being atypical isn’t bad, it just means you're a little different, and that’s perfectly fine! Atypical means something is not the usual or expected kind, it’s like when your favorite toy does something totally new and different.

Imagine you have a red ball that bounces really high every time you throw it. That's typical for this kind of ball. But one day, you get a blue ball, and instead of bouncing, it rolls slowly across the floor like a sleepy turtle. This blue ball is atypical, because it doesn’t do what most balls do.

• It’s different from others in a group.
• It might act or look unusual compared to what you expect.
• Sometimes people are atypical too, they think or behave differently than the rest of the class, but that's okay!

Think about your friends: most might like chocolate ice cream. But if one friend loves spicy mango sorbet instead, that friend is atypical in this group. Being atypical isn’t bad, it just means you're a little different, and that’s perfectly fine!