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I began Art Possibilities as an impending need. My son, Christian, fit nowhere. The Day Training Centers resembled a babysitting setting... he was too bright to spend his life there. The workshops available proved too boring for him lacking the challenge he needed. He went through a very hard time after the school years and when I went bankrupt due to the lack of time to work, I realized a different avenue had to be sought. After finding so many other parents in my same situation this non-profit was born.
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Art Possibilities (also referred to as “the Organization”) is a start-up non-profit that will help address the need for adults with autism to develop life skills, social skills and on-premise job training, which will be catered to the individual level of the adult’s skills. Based in Broward County, Florida, the Organization will be an art studio that uses creative arts training to develop the right side of the brain, while also teaching practical skills for everyday life and future sustenance. Art Possibilities will be a full-time program running from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, with one teacher, four aides and therapeutic consultants (Speech, Occupational and Behavioral Therapists), which can accommodate up to 16 students ages 22 and older. Areas of emphasis will include drawing, painting, cartoon making, comic strips, illustrations for children’s books, photography, apparel art for t-shirts, cartoons as a method to modify behavior, humorous characters, techniques for murals, and computer animation. Students will also have one hour of physical activity every day, such as swimming,or basketball, weight training, and running further helping them develop their motor skills while also aiding in their teamwork and socialization skills. |
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Studies have shown more than 44% of mothers and 28% of fathers of children with autism have been professionally diagnosed with depression, and need the help, encouragement and willpower to prevail and see the brighter side of the picture. Mayra will be assisted by Art Teacher, Carlos Villar. Mr. Villar has worked in an art program at an Adult Day training center in Dade County and is a recognized cartoonist. He has a degree in graphic design, as well as art.
Art Possibilites curriculum includes:
- Drawing
- Painting
- Cartoon making as behavior modification methods
- Comic strips
- Photography
- Illustration for children's books
- Humurous characters
- Techniques for murals
- Mixed media
- T-shirt painting
- Greeting cards
- Computer animation
- Documentary and Film making
- Art shows
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“To create an art studio to help adults with autism and related disabilities integrate into society. Through art methodology, we will discover each student’s strength, and develop that strength while at the same time modifying his or her character, self-esteem, social conduct, and providing vehicles of employment and economic sustenance for these adults. In addition, one hour of physical activity will be provided each day.”
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Twenty-two years ago, when my son was diagnosed with autism, not much was known about his prognosis. Such was the state of affairs at that time that I was recommended to institutionalize him. I was also told that he "may never read, never potty train, never speak." Despite the odds, he speaks, writes, reads and was potty trained both day and night well before regular kids - at the age of two. Yet, that was many years ago when one in 10,000 were diagnosed with this ailment. Today, autism is rampant. One in every 150 children has some sort of this disability, yet all the resources and grants go to the small children -- those who have the chance for early intervention, in the hopes that they may be cured. Millions go into new studies, new diets, new advances to discover the why - treat and eliminate it. And that's wonderful.
Art Possibilities addresses another matter... one that's been locked in the annals of our attics ~ what to do with the millions who, like my son, were diagnosed 22 years ago? Those that did not incur in the privilege of all these medical advances and are now in 'nowhere land.' With a special diploma to their credit, they have truthfully nowhere to go. A job opportunity seems obscure since most do not understand the concept of time nor money, cannot take breaks during work hours for they do not comprehend an activity can be interrupted before it's finished. They do not fit into a Day Training Facility where many Down Syndrome adults feel comfortable, since they do possess other abilities and are bored there, thus causing behavior problems or isolating themselves. It seems society has forgotten them. And that's where the dream of Art Possibilities was born. I call it a dream for still, after so many years that this malady has existed, no provision has been made for those who aren't healed from autism when they attain adult age and are out of our school system. There is no "right place" for those who advance wonderfully, as my son, yet cannot blend as "normal" into society. What to do with those thousands? Do we shut our eyes to them, as has been done, and allow them to stay at home watching TV all day, accompanying their parents everywhere, forcing one of the couples to retire from their day job to keep them company, or stick them in a Day Training Center that's honestly not appropriate for them? So these older counterparts are the forgotten ones; the reason why I wrote my first book, "Can You See Me?" They are the ignored ones. Those this world has decided not to see.
So, I've chosen, as many other parents with me who have adults like my son, to scream and ask, "What are we to do with these? ... Do they not deserve to live a fulfilled life? Why must they be hidden away and why must it be all our responsibility? Why did all those agencies that promised us a smooth transition from high school to adult life not tell us the truth: we do not have a place for them." |
If you read my son's biography, you'll notice he didn't paint until he was 17. He has no apparent ability that caused the world to notice him; no strength. He liked super heroes and one day, I found out he liked to draw them - very childish drawings, but he liked it!! He liked something! He could actually spend hours drawing very awkwardly, but through repetition, heartfelt teachers and 10 years later, he can draw and paint. |
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No, as I say in his biography, he's not a Picasso, but so what? He's Christian - that's his name and he's found a place in this world. And that's what Art Possibilities' mission is: to find a place where our adults can transition. Not an hour and a half art class, but a place where they stay all day. Clean, well arranged, with art teachers and trained professionals, where through vision, behavior and speech therapy, fine motor exercises, repetition of lines, eyes, faces - they learn to express themselves while utilizing the right side of the brain - the non-verbal side... the neglected area the school system, with its left-side and analytical teaching, pounded on them for years.
Art possibilities will explore from 8:30 to 3:00 p.m. every venue of art, artistic expression, visual aid, fine motor skill, cartoon like characters of themselves to modify behavior and include an exercise activity everyday to motivate team work and social interaction. Even explore art projects for advancing them socially. In this way, by utilizing a never-thought-of-method for adults with autism, we wish to offer them a different future: until now non-existent where they will grow in an area of the brain never explored. Perhaps utilizing the right side will strengthen
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the left and balance their brain center. Perhaps even computer animation and other scores of creative possibilities will be birthed. Nobody has found a way to measure creative IQ. It has not ever been measured before and may be the key to a fulfilling life for these adults that were never given the chance as their younger counterparts to the advances now available and therefore afford them what they deserve: the right to a meaningful life and a bright future.
It has been said the one who teaches learn the most. Have we ever taught them to use their creative side? Have we ever taught them to teach others, to care for others? Perhaps these adults will change the perception of our world if we taught them to see us and perhaps society would stop neglecting these adults if they were taught to see them? The brain never stops growing and changing. Why then must we kill these adults with autism by condemning them at age 22 because they do not conform to our world? Perhaps it is us who need to conform and learn about theirs. This is the goal of all those part of Art Possibilities. Change the world of our adults with autism who fall in the middle of the spectrum and beyond and recognize they belong in this world as much as we do - they are not different we have simply set them apart. |
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