“The buzz from the show opened doors for me to expand my reach, which is extraordinarily gratifying!” Kaelynn Partlow By Ron Sandison I enjoyed watching the Netflix series, Love On the Spectrum and hearing each participants’ story and the challenges they experienced with dating. The show beautif…

Art as a Language for Autism: Building Effective Therapeutic Relationships with Children and Adolescents (2023) Jane Ferris Richardson By Connie Gretsch MA Art Therapy, M Ed Art Integration, SLBP Special Education, Expressive Art and Special Educator Jane Ferris Richardson is an art therapist, play…

By Amelie M. Dalporto People often possess prejudices and invite judgement into their everyday interactions. When we see someone who may interact with the world in a way that is different from what we have experienced, we tend to disregard what they have to say and who they are. Art is a form of exp…

Ocean Eversley is a self-taught artist who started painting in 2020 during the pandemic. She use’s art (i.e., poetry, acrylic painting, collage, and photography) to express the beauty and the suffering she sees in the world. In addition, she uses art to highlight the injustices that BIPOC (Black, In…

Ocean Eversely is a self-taught artist who started painting in 2020 during the pandemic. She use’s art (i.e., poetry, acrylic painting, collage, and photography) to express the beauty and the suffering she sees in the world. In addition, she uses art to highlight the injustices that BIPOC (Black, In…

By Anastasia O’Melveny American Abolitionist, Civil Rights and Women’s Rights activist Sojourner Truth was born in slavery in 1797 in rural Ulster County, New York. She died in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1883 at the age of 105. She was first separted from her family and sold as a slave a…

The Art of Autism asked artist Ronaldo Byrd to share some portraits of people he admires for Black History Month. Ronaldo Byrd “Ida B. Wells” Ida B. Wells was a civil rights activist, journalist and educator. I admire her because she was one of the founders of the National Association fo…

Artist Ryan Smoluk shares his process of learning and painting about Mozart this last year. Cover image: Ryan Smoluk “Ode to Mozart” By Ryan Smoluk So much has changed in the past couple of year on a global level. The pandemic caught us all off guard, so many are still struggling. We ar…

By Kaelynn Partlow Autism advocates talk a lot about how we need to “support” people on the spectrum. But when we say “autistic people need support” what does that actually mean? It means giving someone access to an item/activity/service/modification that eliminates or reduces the challenges that ar…

The Art of Autism mourns the loss of Lois Curtis in November 2022. Lois Curtis was an African American artist with intellectual and developmental disabilities and schizophrenia. Curtis paved the way for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities to get out of institutional settings and…

By Kaelynn Partlow As someone diagnosed with autism, I have always had “intense” or “obsessive” interests in different subject areas. As someone who is also diagnosed with several severe learning disabilities, to say I’ve struggled academically would be an understatement. When I was a kid, I used t…

Sylvia Yu is an 18-year-old Southern California based artist who at the age of 3 was diagnosed with autism. Sylvia Yu “Beauty” Early Art Sylvia had trouble interacting socially yet she was able to connect with the world through her wonderful artistic creations. She deals with life’s s…

Header Image: Kabir Vernal “Coloured Hands” Hand imprints of Kabir Outlined and Coloured in using Acrylic Marker Pens on Ivory Paper. Kabir is a 10-year old mostly non-speaking child who loves playing with sticky textures, colors and the process of creating art. This is the Art of Auti…

Cover Image: Michael Sardoni “Peace Dove for the Ukraine” Paper Mosaid and Digital Art “Peace Dove for the Ukraine represents hope that someday there will be peace in Ukraine and the whole world.” As we approach September 21, the date the United Nations has named the Inter…