Harold and the Purple Crayon sparks creativity for kids with ASD

by Jax Chachitz
Creative Spectrum

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a fabulous book series that I find really useful for many reasons. All you need is the book and a purple crayon or what I use is a white board with a purple marker. You can easily get a copy from your Public Library. The illustrations are fairly easy to copy and it is great to work on reading comprehension, copying the images, asking questions about the story, encouraging your child to draw in pictures, following a storyline, etc.

My son absolutely loves for me to draw out the pictures and sometimes we try to go a step further and act out the scenes with random improv props. Its fascinating to see what he comes up with. For Harold going to the moon, we used a bed comforter for the moon and some bristle blocks for a rocket. We scrunched up paper as moon rocks and collected those in a bag. Really, the book series is fabulous and if you just use your imagination to inspire and create, you will inspire your child to have some fun coming up with ideas. All of these skills can sometimes be very difficult for kids with Autism, ASD, PDD, and Speech and Language delays. I find creating an art project or acting activity and sprinkling your speech and language, Q & A or whatever you happen to working on at the moment into the play helps to practice and work on the things that are more difficult. Let Harold animate your childs world.

Book focuses on talents of autistic artists

There is an interesting article by the Washington Times on special talents of children with special needs. The article also discusses the upcoming book that I have posted on a previous blog post. I really enjoy these articles and think more needs to be written and discussed about the talents that exist for many kids on the spectrum.

For once I would love for the autism education experts to not give me a glazed look every time I talk about how talented my sons art is or how he has an incredibly photographic memory. It gets to be really annoying when you know these looks are really just a fake smile suggesting that the person you are talking to is not really supposed to touch upon the cold facts that they believe these are only just splintered skills in certain areas that professionals really do not categorize as talent. They are more like an obsession with colors, shapes, numbers, music, art, memorizing.

But I know, as an artist, that these odd skills and rare abilities need to be enhanced. They are borderline genius in many kids and adults, and it is a shame that many just cannot appreciate the talent for what it is. It is almost as if no one really understands a photographic memory or an innate ability to paint, understand music or numbers. Seems education experts should really rethink how we can better accentuate these talents and use them as tools for more interaction and most of all for self esteem. When I was 8 and realized my artistic talents, I was thrilled. I think educators need to also appreciate this more in kids with specials needs and autism. Maybe part of the problem is we do not fully know how they think, thus we do not know how to help them except in our limited capacity of how we learn.

I also want to add, that it is very unfair for children with special needs. Just because they do not learn like other children should not mean that they are denied respect for their talents. If you have a small child that is "gifted" any parent would give them piano lessons or special tutoring in the area that they excel. We as parents of kids on the spectrum must do the same. Find their talents and let them sparkle and shine! You will be amazed at what they can accomplish when given the opportunities.

Special Deeds Children
Washington Times - Washington,DC,USA

There is something very Paul Gauguin — impenetrable colors and primitive forms — about Kevin Hosseini's oil paintings.

Which is very impressive in and of itself considering that Kevin is only 13 years old. Add to that the fact that he's autistic.

"Gauguin & Me" is an oil painting by Kevin Hosseini, a 13-year-old with autism.

"I've painted for three years. ... It makes me feel good," says the Carpinteria, Calif, resident who is working on a large oil painting with bold blues and greens. "It's an ocean scene," he explains.

Kevin's and about three dozen other young autistic artists' works will be presented in a coffee-table book, "Artism A-New," due out in October (submissions are still accepted through Aug. 15 at www.artismtoday.com).

Opportunity: Submit art to new book for artists with autism

The creators of the book "Artism: Art by Those With Autism!" are seeking new, original artwork to include in the next book in this series titled "Artism Anew." The first book on Artism was the winner of the Global Book Publishing Award. (see article post)

The goal of this book, filled with color artwork by people with autism, is to transform the lives of the readers. The project is being spearheaded by Karen Simmons, the founder of Autism Today and the author of the books "Artism" and "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children With Special Needs," and will be curated and co-authored by Debbie Hosseini.

Some of the artists who have already agreed to contribute include: Ping Lian Yeak, Jonathan Lerman, Seth Chwast, George Widener, Gregory Blackstock, Amanda LaMunyon, Marcy Deutsch, Temple Grandin and Donna Williams.

If you or someone you know with autism would like to be included in "Artism Anew," please visit www.artismtoday. com for more information. Artwork must be received by Aug. 15. There is no limit to the number of submissions.

Printables to understand the July 4th holiday for kids on the spectrum

Free printables at Family Education has a host of printable options for July 4th. I think using printed materials are a great visual reference and really help kids with Autism get the idea of a holiday celebration. When concepts branch across several avenues then this helps to generalize concepts. Here are just a few that I think are appropriate. Besides printables celebrate by decorating cupcakes or making jello or ice pops, visit a low key event or join in a parade, dress up the kids with red white and blue and join in your local festivities. Happy 4th of July! (I tried to only have ones that were more creative and not just your typical flag.)

Fourth of July Word Search
Printable. Celebrate America's independence with this printable Fourth of July word search.

Patriotic Resist
Printable. Create wax resist works of art using paint and crayons.

Patriotic Hat
Printable. Children create a patriotic hat that will be sure to show off their American pride.

Egg Carton Uncle Sam
Printable. Create an Uncle Sam sculpture and recycle egg chttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifartons at the same time!

Star Design
Printable. Create a picture using the stars and stripes as basic elements.

Mobile of people
Printable. Children can make a mobile of patriotic people by following the directions in this arts and crafts printable.

Patriotic Design
Printable. Everyone will enjoy this collage art activity.

Special Days
Printable. Employ a printable activity that helps build skills in recognizing names of U.S. holidays.

Artists for Autism: Art to Cure Autism

by Jax Chachitz

Artists in relation to Autism. Creativity is endless when it comes to the passion artistic parents have for their children that also happen to see the world a little differently. A spotlight needs to shine also on those that dedicate their work to help to support their children. We all know that having a child on the spectrum leads to a huge financial burden. So I invite you all to share with, applaud and support the parents and families that would gladly trade their talents for an easier path for their children to follow. I know I would give up every ounce of creativity for my child to someday lead a typical life. We need to show some support for eachother! I will tell you first hand, artists do not have it easy! It is a very difficult business and hard way to make a living. Maybe we should spend a little less on outrageously priced therapy toys that feed into our guilt when a good hour of floortime and a cardboard box would suffice. So I invite you to collect art from the families of those on the spectrum and if you cannot afford to buy art - buy prints (it is such a reasonable solution for enjoying great artwork. I will continue to compile a listing of links so you can start collecting now!

Art To Cure Autism
Artist Hal Betzold
www.arttocureautism.com

Here is a fabulous family that is so incredibly involved and dedicated to their son, his treatment, education and encouraging art for the Autism Community. Artist Hal Betzold and his wife Linda Betzold. They have also just finished organizing the Autism One Art Festival. Linda also works with Tacanow in Chicago and also just rallied at the Green our Vaccines rally. Talk about endless dedication! You will be touched by their story and moved by these lovely storybook pieces to add to your childrens room. Prices range from 50 to 150 dollars depending on the type of quality Giclee that you want. Beautiful pieces!

Jax Chachitz

Autism One Art Festival in Chicago

The second annual Autism One Arts Festival in Chicago is running in conjunction with the conference Friday May 23rd to Sunday May 25th. The Art Festival is proud to present a wide variety of artists from painting to the performing arts. Its about life and passion and joy and celebrating the unique gifts our children bring to the world. I will have posters from my Autism Series for sale, titled I just want you to say mommy one time.

The festival also includes classes in music, acting and painting. Art can be the bridge to connect our children to the world. The Festival is free and open to the public. Here are also links to the various other artists showing and selling work. If you are in Chicago don't miss the event!

Trent Altman
Kaitren Beechey
Mark Rimland
Carly Hatton
Josh Peddle

A gallery that brings the work of a lot of different artists: Art on Main Gallery

Jax Chachitz

Peek in on the progress of an artist working with special needs kids

I am thrilled to share the work created by 3 incredible kids working with one very talented artist, Joanna Whitney. Joanna is new to the challenges of kids with special needs. But she has been able to make a valuable connection and tap into the creative energy of these incredible children.

I think it is wonderful that she is objective when dealing with the various disabilities, ASD, Autism, Aspergers Syndrome and Mental Health Issues. Sometimes as a parent or therapist, when you know only one way of interacting it really limits your creativity. My philosophy is to have a broad perspective of the traits of the disability, be educated about the dynamics of the disability. Watch, listen, learn from those surrounding the child, there are obvious successful methods to get the kids to interact, we all know them via the countless therapies. Exposing kids to art and an artist forces the artist/teacher to be exposed to the dynamic of the disability and try to think about how to inspire and communicate artistically. The communication is what is tapped into and flows via body language and expression. I find my son, watches me when I paint with him, he really is incredibly observant about the nuances of what I do as an artist. As an artist/teacher it is important to always remember it is about the experience of creating, not about what the final product looks like. As adults, we tend to get too involved in the final outcome and the "rules". Creating art should be just about creating art and does not have to be about talking, being verbal, body language is a valuable tool for communicating your wants, needs and desires. Whatever way that needs to be expressed.
It is wonderful to see some of the works created so far by the children working with Joanna Whitney. The spontaneous ideas that are overflowing. Exciting! Please visit her ongoing journal of progress, she has some fabulous ideas and genuinely wishes to inspire others out there. I am looking forward to seeing more. Will keep you all posted. http://www.joannawhitney.com/files/sn.html

Jax Chachitz

Project Spectrum: Amazing 3d Software for Children with Autism

Children with Autism Architect Their Ideas Using 3D Design Software

Here is an amazing FREE software product for kids with Autism. Check out the site but also visit the utube videos of the projects that kids have actually created. Phenomenal. What a wonderful tool for kids that are visual but unable to physically be able to draw as well. This software tool helps to bring to life ideas visually and make concepts easy to expand on.

"Project Spectrum was developed by the SketchUp Team at Google to help people with autism take advantage of their visual and spatial gifts.
The idea for Project Spectrum originated when we began getting phone calls and emails from users telling us about how much kids on the autism spectrum were enjoying SketchUp. As the calls kept coming in, we learned that people with autism tend to be visually and spatially gifted—that, in fact, they think in pictures. When people with these gifts get their hands on powerful, easy-to-use 3D design software like SketchUp, sparks tend to fly."

"Inspired by what we've learned, we've partnered with the Boulder, Colorado chapter of the Autism Society of America, the Boulder Valley School District, and the Life Long Learning Lab at University of Colorado to provide children with software and guidance that may help them to express an idea or even develop a life skill."

"SketchUp provides new ways for people with autism to articulate their thoughts. Here JP uses SketchUp to share his dream of becoming a filmmaker. See the video Meg's aquarium dream house is a great example of how SketchUp can enable someone to express the pictures in her head."

Try Google SketchUp - free 3D design software
Sign up for the Google for Educators Newsletter
Join our online community at the Project Spectrum Google Group
Learn to use SketchUp with Self Paced Tutorials
Download the Project Spectrum Manual of Lesson Plans

Art lesson for children with Autism: Collage Stories

This will be an ongoing series of ideas for teaching art to kids on the Autism Spectrum. My goal is to tailor and customize solutions for teaching kids with Autism about art and creating art.

Create collages with paper. Use familiar images from childrens books.
The basic premise is to cut or rip small pieces of paper to create a collage of color like a mosaic.

Supplies needed: Scissors, Glue, Favorite Book, Old Magazines or Construction Paper.

When I was first introduced to this concept, we used newspaper. We took a classical image, projected and mapped out an outline onto a large piece of paper (about the size of a wall) and then collaged the gradations of color with only using black, gray and white. This was a great undertaking in terms of reproducing color into black and white and really seeing the values of color through limited color. I am not suggesting this as the final project for the little ones but as a variation.

You begin by finding a favorite character or book illustration. Place the page on a window and trace the outline onto a white piece of paper. Or trace the outline anyway possible, even share this as part of the process, as outlining is a good skill to have. You begin by cutting or ripping the small to medium pieces of a paper in various colors represented in the story. You may want to stick to simple graphic like images for an easier activity. Share in ripping, cutting and glueing the various pieces into the outlines. Your child will enjoy representing the various sections. You can even expand the concept and use magazine pictures for silly noses, eyes, body parts. The important thing is to have fun. Always remember these projects are about learning to use tools for expression, visually representing images with color and shapes, and most of all enjoying the experience of creating.

There are many famous artists that use collage as an art form. Utilizing scraps of paper, magazine cut outs of what exists visually is a great way to incorporate instant color, images to create stories and encourage spontaneous ideas with simple tools. You can even embellish objects, similar to decoupage and decorate crafts. Another trick for getting that exact image you are looking for, the google image search tool or online clip art.

Jax Chachitz

Art Play Project: Social play, creating stories with playdoh

I have decided to experiment with incorporating social stories into art projects. You can view some information from various websites like, what are social stories by Carol Gray. You can view her website The Gray Center with links to purchase products. But you can also find a few free samples stories to play with. I have not ventured into using the concept of the social story to create a social dynamic to reference but to enhance speech that is appropriate for social interaction. Hope this makes sense to you all! Book image above is from musickit.com, the original book I have was a song by tom Glazer and Illustrations by Rob Barber, Goodyear Books, Harper Collins Publisher.


For example:
Art Play Project: Playdoh and the book "On Top of Spaghetti"
We begin by making spaghetti, meatballs and cheese with the clay and create the props to act out the story/song for "On Top of Spaghetti" song book. After and during the project I write a simple story, that we read together to document the activity. I was thinking of also taking photos for visual reference. Here is a simple story.

"My name is -------. I am playing with Playdoh with my mommy. I like playdoh. My favorite color is -------. We are reading the book on top of spaghetti. I am making spaghetti with the spaghetti maker. We push and push and push the red playdoh in the maker . Help me. We made spaghetti. Yeah. "

I am finding that incorporating stories has helped to encourage familiar speech, fill in the blanks, and expanding spontaneous appropriate phrases. I have to purchase a simple photo printer for on the spot printing of images. Will post more when this happens as I think the visual cue will be an interesting dynamic to retell the story and add more to the story as we progress.
There seems to be a real lack of toys that can simulate these types of interactions for practicing fluid spontaneous back and forth speech. Any ideas or suggestions out there?
I also have found a link to a boyscout page that has the classic song. On Top of Spaghetti.

jax chachitz

Resources for Teaching Children with Autism

I am trying to create a list of links of helpful and/or free websites. If your child has been diagnosed with a developmental delay and you have tried to find teaching materials, then you have more than likely experienced "sticker shock" For some reason the makers of toys and learning materials for children with developmental delays have to make more money than the rest of us for their labors. True, they provide a great service and thank god we do have access to the multitude of toys out there but . . . DO THE TOYS HAVE TO COST THAT MUCH! There is a point where pricing is becoming somewhat sketchy. Same goes for all those GFCF food products out there! Fortunately, there are some wonderful folks who have put their hearts ahead of their bank accounts and provided some free stuff for parents and teachers of children with autism and developmental delays.

The following links will take you to some wonderful web sites. Many are run by parents with children with Autism. Be sure to check out the free downloads, pictures, ideas, and more. If you know of any other web sites that have helped you, please email me at: jax@atelierjax.com. Enjoy:

Links I have reviewed: I will gradually try to add to this list. I also want to thank msn group for some of these website suggestions. I am pulling from various resources.

Hiyah - Written by a mother with 2 boys with Autism. "My name is Sara. I have 2 boys who both showed an interest in the computer, but didn't know how to use the mouse or keyboard. Since there was nothing on the market to meet their needs, I developed a series of educational computer software programs that they could operate on their own by simply pressing the spacebar. I am making these programs available at no charge to any parent or teacher who thinks they may be able to use them.

JAMBAV - Jambav uses its expertise in software to make a difference in the lives of children of all ages and all abilites. Check out the parent blog and especially ToonDoo, their cool new online comic strip creator. Create your own comic stips, publish, share and discuss!

STARFALL - You are gonna love this site and so will your child! Start with the A-B-C's and move to reading simple stories, like Zac the Rat. The graphics and sounds will keep most kids attention for a long time!

CHILDREN WITH CHALLENGES - Prewriting Activities, Fine Motor Skills, Cutting activities, Cheap do it yourself activity suggestions. Free, printable practice pages for tracing, copying letters, and more. Don't stop at this page. Go to the main page for some excellent suggestions for teaching children many fine-motor skills.

Accentuate the Positive - Not a toy or an activity but spread your appreciation!

Thomas the Tank Engine and Autism - "Thomas often serves as a 'gateway to learning' for children with ASD. The interest in Thomas provides children with the motivation and interest to try new things." This web site has some great ideas for using Thomas to help kids with autism learn. It has many great pictures of Thomas' facial expressions that can be used to teach emotions.

Funbrain.com - Many on-line learning and fun games for kids of all ages and grades.

Facial Expressions Game - An interesting resource "game" from DoToLearn. A computer generated facial expression simulator. Weird, but interesting with the nuances of facial expressions.

Beyond Autism Pecs Pictures/Icons Pages - The best collection of PECS pictures, links to all kinds of pictures, and sage advice from a parent who's "been there, done that." You're gonna love this page and amazing source of information and links!

Kids Fonts - Download fonts to create dot-to-dot letters so your child can print, begin cursive writing, or color his/her own name. They offer do-it-yourself supplies for teaching young children
to recognize and write their alphabet and numbers.

Superkids - Educational Software Review - For playing music, music - c scale, travel back in time, create your own math and vocabulary worksheets, play on-line games, and so much more!

Riley and Drew's Thomas The Tank Engine Site: Check out the coloring pages and characters at Thomas The Tank Engine Site.

Facial Expressions of Emotion - An interactive figure allows your child to make a face, guess the emotion, and then click to see if he is correct. Directions: Single click on a set of eyes and a mouth. Then single click on the Done button to check your emotion. If not successful, you will be encouraged to "try again." Very cool for kids who are struggling with recognizing facial expressions.

BillyBear4Kids.com - Print & Play Worksheet Games - Three skill levels. Print out practice sheets for alphabet, numbers, (dot-to-dot), writing, math, social studies, fun, and much more. Worth checking it out.

DoToLearn - Free picture cards, schedules, and tips for visual learners. Also includes products you can purchase. A great resource!

Thomas the Tank Engine Get the latest news on Thomas and the Magic Railroad and much more. Includes brief movies, many wonderful learning and fun games, simple activities, and great animations.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~imaging/train_set.html. Build and Run a Train Set Train Set for the Jet Set by Paul Flavin. A pretty cool toy train set that you can build, run, and control with your mouse. Make it run fast or slow. For the comuter and mathematical savvy.

KinderArt - KinderArt Coloring Pages are free, printable coloring sheets for children.

BrainCandy - Get Connected - A puzzle game in which you rearrange the wires to get everyone connected to the Internet. A challenging game. Requires great puzzle-solving ability, patience, and good mouse skills.

OZMO - Fun Toys and Interesting Stuff - Created by parents of an adult with autism and OCD to encourage easy, safe, wonderful fun with toys, posters, books, novelties, puzzles, jokes and other interesting stuff.

jax chachitz - artist - www.atelierjax.com

The 1st in a series of Paintings for Autism Awareness - I hope to provoke and inspire awareness through this collection

Series of Paintings for Autism - I just want you to say mommy one time

I just want you to say mommy one time

I have decided to open up my world and dedicate myself and my work to a cause that has a profound influence on my life. Autism.

My first painting in a series of paintings that I hope will provoke thought and contribute to awareness for Autism.

Be sure to visit my other blog for more details about this art. www.atelierjax.blogspot.com

Jax Chachitz

Scrapbooking as an Educational Tool for Autism

Blog: Scraps of Mind

I stumbled across this little snippet over at one of the newsbytes internet sites and it got me thinking about how valuable a social tool scrapbooking can be.

Scrap Girls consumers are using digital scrapbooking products for much more than scrapbooking family memories.

Los Angeles, CA (FV Newswire) - Scrap Girls consumers are using digital scrapbooking products for much more than scrapbooking family memories. Melanie, a layout designer at ScrapGirls.com, takes her digital scrapbooking personally. So personally in fact, that she has started using this art form to design social stories for her son. Melanie’s son struggles with language delays. As part of his therapy, his speech therapist recommended that Melanie should write stories for him in which she would describe how he should behave. Melanie knew right away how she would do this: digital scrapbooking.

Melanie uses digital scrapbooking products from ScrapGirls.com to display digital photos of her son in a colorful comic-book style that will keep his attention. Her son is the star and he loves the books. Through them, he can watch himself make good choices.

Rose Ann Bright, a Scrap Girls customer noted, “I think this is a wonderful idea. I teach a variety of children, some of whom have autism, learning disabilities, or intellectual disabilities. Social stories are a big part of teaching children the correct way to interact with peers and adults.” Rose Ann also suggests the digitally scrapbooked stories could be presented as PowerPoint presentations.

Julie, a friend of Melanie’s, recently underwent brain surgery. To prepare her autistic son for the event, she prepared social stories to help him understand what would happen. He learned why his grandparents would be taking care of him for a while and why his father wouldn’t be around as much. He learned why his mother’s hair would be cut and why she wouldn’t be able to read to him or take him to school for a period of time.

How fantastic to be using scrapbooking as an educational tool!

I never really thought about it before but scrapbooking lends itself to this purpose so perfectly. After all, isn’t scrapbooking all about communication? Whether we are telling a story in pictures or a combination of pictures and words, or whether we are communicating a mood or emotion through the colours and design of our layouts. We’re communicating something.

And what a perfect tool to communicate to those with learning difficulties or who are too young to grasp complex ideas.

Have any of you used your scrapbooking in this way? Let us know in the comments. I’m sure many of us would like to know more about this side to scrapbooking that we may never have explored before.

Share your ideas and we will be sure to pass them on to the contributing blog Scraps of Mind

Free Printable Fun for Kids with Autism

Free Printable Learning Activities for Autistic Children
by Jamie Sue Austin
Blog: Free Printable Fun

Finding printable learning activities online for children is easy. There are a wealth of sites that offer great resources for teaching children at home.

Sites for parents offers a HUGE listing of websites that offer quality educational printables. http://www.sitesforparents.com/

For parents of autistic children the resources are smaller, but still available. While I believe there are wonderful, affordable materials out there for parents to purchase, it's nice to try things for free before committing to purchases that may not work for the individual child. If you have a laminating machine at home (who doesn't, right?) then you can actually substitute many purchased learning materials for free ones.

Do2Learn has some wonderful illustrations that can be used to help autistic children create and maintain a schedule. Print, laminate, add Velcro stickies.. POOF! You're done. I have to commend this site for giving away for free what a lot of parents have been paying for. http://www.do2learn.com/

LearningPage has a great selection of worksheets and printable books that would be excellent for both typical children learning their fundamentals and autistic children learning vocabulary, sequencing, and categorizing. The site is free but requires registration. High five for the developers of this resource as they provide an almost complete K-5 curriculum's worth of activities. http://www.learningpage.com/

MES-English.com is a site that has wonderful printables for those learning English as a second language. The illustrations are snappy and the concepts uncluttered. They would work well for teaching vocabulary, daily routine, adverbs and adjectives, and prepositions to children with autism. I myself use their preposition cards. This is a truly stunning site. The printables are offered in many different formats so that you can choose which best suits your needs. I'm very fond of the PowerPoint layouts because it allows me to print 6 images to a sheet of card stock, which I can laminate for my child to use.

While I'm sure that these materials were not created with an autistic child in mind they are just as impressive as those that are. I have to give the creator some serious kudos on that.

If a child is learning a second language they are an excellent resource as well because most of the printables are available in more than one language. Aside from flash cards they offer coloring sheet, phonics worksheets, printable stickers, and great clip art. A wonderful free site!!! http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards.php

And just for fun... Here's a random paper toy. It's an autism awareness car!

http://www.buttonsandmore.com/toycar/ulthm.htm

Thanks to Jamie Sue for letting us use your article: Free Printable Learning Activities for Autistic Children. The free printable fun blog also has a nice selection of other links. www.freeprintablefun.blogspot.com

Artnet.com Article: Is Autistic Artistic?

Is Autistic Artistic?
Read this impressive article written in 2005 by N.F Karlins for Artnet.com about Autism, Art and view amazing art created by some truly inspirational artists.

" Should art of the mentally ill be considered different from other art? The drawings, paintings, collages, digital photos and computer animations by the 17 artists on display at Ricco/Maresca may be distinctive but are hardly alien to those already found in galleries throughout SoHo, Chelsea, Brooklyn and elsewhere. So are these "Outsiders" because of their mental condition?"

"Guest curator Dr. Larry E Dumont, director of inpatient child and preadolescent psychiatry at KidsPeace Hospital in Orefield, Pa., asserts in an essay available at the gallery, "Artistic is autistic." He goes on to say that the personal vision of artists in general can be considered autistic, though this doesn't mean that they have autism. He also states that not all autistic artists are equally interesting, and that "What distinguishes [interesting] autistic artists is that unique passion they bring to their subject." It seems to me that this can be said of any interesting artist.
Autism and art -- immense, messy, and intertwined topics -- is the subject of a panel led by Dr. Dumont and including researchers and members of families dealing with autism at the American Folk Art Museum in New York on Jan. 25, 2005."