Got a story to tell you. It’s about my new friend Alicia. We met online. On this very blog in fact. She read my post, Yellow Bird. It was a chance meeting of kindred spirits via the magic of the world wide web.
Alicia has a dream. Her ‘dreamiest dream’ is to open a non profit art center for kids with asperger’s syndrome and autism. Not just dreaming…she’s DOING. Because as the mother of a very special, very cool little kid who happens to be somewhere on the spectrum, she knows firsthand how art changes lives. Changes focus and attention.
She’s also an accomplished mixed media artist.
Right now the kids are working on her kitchen table. As soon as she finishes remodeling her garage into a studio they’ll meet there. And she can take more of them. You can read her blog for the details.
To help finance her dream Alicia opened an extra special etsy store, Mum and Finn where she creates paintings and all sorts of other cool stuff based on her son’s descriptions. There’s a monster doll there I’d give my right arm for. Her name is Eunice who traded her right arm for George’s intestines, she survived but he did not.
Something tells me young Finn did the naming.
Here’s the cool thing…one hundred percent of the profits from Mum and Finn go to finance the art center. One hundred percent.
Alicia’s got another project in the works, the Tallest Handmade Book in the World. Attention art peeps and anyone with an ounce of creativity…make a page or two or three and join the fun. The finished book will be auctioned off for a good cause. You can read all about it here.
Starting a non-profit isn’t easy. Let’s all spread the word and help Alicia’s dream come true. Let’s change some kids’ lives with art. Facebook Like, Tweet it on…share on whatever social network platforms you can.
A few days ago I posted about my day job. Three days a week I teach mixed media at an art center for developmentally disabled adults. Been working there nearly fifteen years and it’s an amazingly rewarding job. If you didn’t read that post please take a few minutes to read it now because what I have to say will make more sense if you do. Here’s the link.
Go ahead. I’ll wait. Matter of fact, I’m going to put the tea kettle on.
Back? All caught up? Good. Because now I’ve got a video to share. Please, please PLEASE watch it. It’s less than ten minutes and I guarantee it will challenged any preconceived ideas you have about autism.
Watching this video I saw my client. The gestures, the behaviors, the ability to use technology despite her outward demeanor. I wish you could see her eyes, the light in them when we connect. There’s intelligence there. She KNOWS…
She made this painting on a day when I could get her to paint…there aren’t too many of those. She copied the poem from a book. I’m going to quote it as best I can and hopefully give the author’s name correctly. If anyone recognizes it and can correct me, please do.
“…My mind is like a big yellow bird/the bird is trapped in a world of people/and he dreams of leaving to another world…” Oscar Hanah (?)
She picked the poem herself. She KNOWS…just as I know there’s an iPad angel out there somewhere.
If you have the time, I have one more video for you. A 60 Minutes segment Apps for Autism.
And here’s a link to Carly Fleishman’s blog, the girl from the video at the top of the post. She’s come a long way for a girl who doesn’t talk. A long way….
Before you go, would you do me a favor, please. Help me scatter those iPad seeds out into the universe. Like this post on FaceBook. Retweet it. Share it on your wall. So maybe some day the yellow bird can fly freely into THIS world.
The first time I walked through the doors of the Neighborhood Center of the Arts I was blown away. Totally blown away. Over the years I’ve watched other visitors have the same reaction. Because the art created there is raw. Authentic on a level you won’t find in an art school.
It is amazing.
I started working there shortly after that first visit. I teach mixed media three days each week. Been there nearly fifteen years.
I’m not there because of the money, trust me. This is a nonprofit that serves developmentally disabled adults, people who were either born with their genetic wires crossed or who suffered a life altering injury before their eighteenth birthday.
I’m there for them. Because I’ve learned to see beyond their disabilities. I’ve learned to see their abilities. I’ve learned to see them as people, like you and me.
Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn’t see them that way. The state of California sees the most vulnerable among us as the most expendable. Our budget has been slashed over and over throughout the years.
We make due without raises. We scrounge for supplies. We’ve learned to make art out of damn near anything.
But there’s one client I haven’t been able to reach. I cannot tell you her name or show you her photograph due to confidentiality restrictions. But I do want to tell you about her as best I can without stepping over the privacy line.
She’s a young woman. Autistic. She spends her time in my class on the floor, half under a table. I put paper, paint and markers next to her on the floor. Somedays she’ll write on the paper, copying words from whatever reading material is handy. Some days she’ll paint. But none of this activity lasts longer than ten minutes. And that’s on a good day.
If I’m lucky. Some days she won’t do anything.
One day, in desperation, I pulled out my iPhone. I have it loaded with art apps because, well, why not? I’m an artist. I handed it to her and she immediately began exploring the apps. I was amazed at her intuitive grasp of the programs, some of which I haven’t even figured out yet.
The iPhone kept her busy for over an hour, until it was time to go. I was amazed. Totally. These are a couple of designs she made with an app called Type Drawing. She had to type the text, pick the colors and draw.
A few weeks later I brought in my iPad. Same reaction. It was as if someone had flipped on a switch. She lit up and immediately began exploring the possibilities. She wasn’t the woman hiding out from the world, she was a young woman interacting with something outside of herself.
It was an amazing transformation, one I’d dearly love to see continue. Because something like this can change a life.
But an iPad is completely out of our budget. I know, I’ve put in the request, spoken with the powers that be. So now I’m putting the seeds out into the universe. If any of you have a connection to Apple, or belong to a service organization looking for a project or want a tax write off or just have an iPad lying around that you’re not using…well, feel free to contact my boss, Amee M. ncadirector@nccn.net (530) 272-7287.
Because you never know where you’re going to find an angel.
