Day 360

Justin and his family: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Justin with girlfriend Paloma: Andrea Morales/The New York Times

Justin working at Gencarelli's Bakery in Bloomfield, NJ.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Justin's composition book: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Justin Canha: Mother and Child 3

I recently read the article Autistic and Seeking a Place in an Adult World in the New York Times. Justin Canha, a 22-year-old artist from NJ, has successfully found work, friends, and a girlfriend despite his struggles with autism. Through his family and transition teacher, Kate Stanton-Paule, he’s developed social, vocational, and sensory strategies to cope with the overwhelming rules of our society.

Canha started drawing as a young child as a form of communication. From there he started filling his composition books with miniature cartoon characters and used art to complete school assignments. In 2008 the Ricco Maresca Gallery in NYC sold 12 of his paintings at the Outsider Art Fair, some for as much as $4,000! With such early success, his family started thinking about a future in art. After his senior year, he started the 18-21 transition curriculum at Montclair High, which was a progressive post-secondary program that emphasized community interaction. He volunteered at a library, animal shelter, and elementary school and eventually got an internship at an animation studio, Nightstand Creations. After the internship he started working at a bakery and currently works in an art store. He hasn’t become a famous animator-illustrator yet, but continues to draw and paint until he reaches that goal.

Day 254

Closing reception at Ver(a)rt Gallery:

Kelt signed the gallery wall.

He talked to everyone that walked through.

The Bellingham Herald also wrote a small article about Kelt and the show!

SHOW EXPLORES COLLECTION AND CONNECTIONS

JULIE SHIRLEY - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

In February, Bellingham Herald sports reporter Joe Sunnen wrote about Blaine High School wrestler Kelton Nix. The 18-year-old was diagnosed with autism when he was 6, but has made a big mark on Whatcom County.

Joe wrote that Kelton is so well-liked by his peers that wrestlers from others teams in the conference have helped him with his passion of collecting key chains. Kelton started his collection in elementary school and now has nearly 6,000.

Kelton and his older sister, Ainsley Nix, blog about his key chains and autism at keychainaday.blogspot.com.

And now through Monday, May 30, they are displaying 50 key chains and 100 keychain drawings from their blog at a Seattle exhibition that explores the artistic relationship between autism and family. The Monday closing reception with the pair will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ver(a)rt Gallery at Warren Avenue and Republican Street in Seattle.

They also will display their work in the group show More is More at the Lexington Art League in Lexington, Kent., July 22 to Sept. 10.

Day 200!

A couple more blind contour drawings of Kelt's bobble heads. These drawings are blind except when I briefly look at the paper to set the pen. This series represents Kelt's uninhibited drawing style and enhanced visual skills. To view more, click the bobble head label to the right. This article further explains the project: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Brains of People with Autism Focus More on Visual Skills

This means less activity in areas used for planning and decision making, but the brain adapts, researchers find.

MONDAY, April 4 (HealthDay News) -- The brains of people with autism concentrate more resources in areas devoted to visual perception, resulting in less activity in areas used to plan and control thoughts and actions, says a new study.

The findings may explain why people with autism have exceptional visual abilities, said the researchers at the University of Montreal.

They analyzed data from 26 brain imaging studies that were conducted over 15 years and included a total of 357 autistic and 370 non-autistic participants.

"Through this meta-analysis, we were able to observe that autistics exhibit more activity in the temporal and occipital regions and less activity in frontal cortex than non-autistics," first author Fabienne Samson said in a university news release.

The temporal and occipital regions are involved in perceiving and recognizing patterns and objects, while the frontal areas are involved with decision making, cognitive control, planning and execution, she explained.

The findings offer the "first physiological confirmation that enhanced perceptual processing is a core feature of neural organization in this population," Dr. Laurent Mottron, of the university's Centre for Excellence in Pervasive Development Disorders, said in the news release. "We now have a very strong statement about autism functioning, which may be ground for cognitive accounts of autistic perception, learning, memory and reasoning."

According to the study, the finding shows that the autistic brain successfully adapts some of its cognitive functioning by reallocating brain areas to visual perception. The results may point the way to new areas of autism research.

Day 89

I'm currently reading an article, "Autism's First Child," in The Atlantic about Donald Triplett, who was the first child diagnosed with autism (1943). He is currently 77, lives in Forest, Mississippi in his own house, and golfs everyday. For the next week or so, I'm going to discuss some of the article's main issues, which primarily deal with our society and autism in adulthood. Here is one interesting quote that I've come across so far:

"We can dispense with the layers of sorrow, and interpret autism as but one more wrinkle in the fabric of humanity. Practically speaking, this does not mean pretending that adults with autism do not need help. But it does mean replacing pity toward them with ambition for them. The key to this view is a recognition that 'they' are part of 'us,' so that those who don't have autism are actively rooting for those who do" (p. 81).