It was 1998 and we were a year into autism early intervention. What
you did or didn't do beyond the standard speech/language, occupational
and educational therapies was controversial. I found it all grueling.
The rigor. The constancy. Where, I asked, was the childhood pleasure of
creating art, the joy of music and the ecstasy of dance? My daughter needed help to attend the arts classes my friends'
typically developing children attended. I kept on with the rigors of early intervention, but
I ventured toward a very unconventional route, beating the bushes to
find in Middle Tennessee dance/movement, music and art therapists.

What our family discovered was that our preschooler had perfect pitch
and perfect rhythm. To this day she loves to cut a rug. Wildly so. But
visual art? I remember the look of excitement and wonder after the first
session with our first art therapist. We got it then that our daughter
had an affinity for color and composition. She had a gift that she would demonstrate again and again over the next 15 years. An ability that was often years beyond her chronological age.

The creative branch of our journey all began with an exploration for
wonder lost in the deluge of teaching her the basics she didn't possess–much of them still does not. I first heard Temple Grandin
speak around that time. She told parents that when our children turned 14, to zone in on what interested them for it would be their future social
group and career paths. We found ours 10 years before that. We found it
at four.

While I attended a portfolio-based arts high school in South Carolina
and gravitated to art all my life, I never did much overtly with it
come college. I allow my family's taboo attitudes toward art to chain me for many years if not still now. But, in the work of my daughter, I knew what to look for and what I was seeing and I
knew, because it has been my career–30 years in communications–how to package and market like
hell. I also began reporting on art here in Nashville nearly a decade
ago via magazines, newspapers and my blog.

The deal is that my daughter
is not that unique. Well, she is and she isn't. We are all unique.
True. But I just knew what to look for and how to help her. There are
other artists (with autism and other disAbilities)  like her world-wide. Just not that many here. We are in a
city of art but a state that does not value education and the education
of art. Nor the education of students with disAbilities. Many parents,
many people, everywhere, do not understand art. They do not realize
there are legions of artists who paint abstractions for thousands of dollars and
more. So, I've watched other classmates of Grace who I knew had talent go
undiscovered by their teachers, the system, their incredulous parents, even when told them their children had ability. I cannot fault them. The world, especially
our culture, does not get art. It is underfunded, underappreciated, misunderstood, devalued. Match that with a severe disAbility and it gets buried more times than not.

It's time to change that. We must change it. We must change it for
those growing up behind us. We must change it for those who are already
grown up. And, sadly, it is often only then that we do discover their
talent for visual art and even begin to give chances for adults with
disAbilities to express their often innate ability. Lost potential. Lost
pleasure. Lost profit.

Let's go back to the beginning. The beginning of making art for the
fun of it. And then see where it can take us. Let's go for the wonder
and surprise.

Come this Thursday, May, 23, and learn about Art, Dance/Movement and
Music therapies. I'll be there sharing my journey into these Creative
Expressive Therapies. Location: Room 241, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center.
Hosted by the Autism Society of Middle Tennessee. Today is the deadline
for free childcare during the workshop.

The video above launched the beginning of Honestly Autism Day
in Baltimore. We'll be sharing this and other videos on music and
dance/movement before our presentations start. We'll be explaining why
having someone educated in developmental disAbilities plus a creative
art is often the strongest link for reaching a person with disAbilities' maximum
abilities. Please share this post with others so that they will know. Everyone deserves the joys of creative arts. Everyone deserves a chance to explore whatever their potential. And, everyone has some sort of potential be it art or otherwise.