Speaking With Pictures
September 25, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Drawing pictures has been how Kim Miller, who’s autistic, is able to communicate her feelings, thoughts, fears and more. Now 20 years old, Miller’s pictures are the illustrations for a book about her story by her mother, Eileen, The Girl Who Spoke With Pictures, which is published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers (Oregon). Today’s News-Review features an interview with Kim Miller and her mother:
The dichotomy between Kim in real life and Kim on paper is evident throughout the book.
As Kim grew older, she illustrated the obstacles she faced during her daily routine, such as sensitivity to noise. As a 12-year-old, she created a drawing titled, “Today.” In the picture, she has her hands over her ears, a word bubble from her mouth screams, “I can’t take it!”
The crunch from someone eating cereal was enough to spoil her day.
As Kim got older and her drawings became more elaborate and personal, the family had to search through Kim’s notebooks to find any clues as to what their daughter was feeling.
“You had to dig for it, look for it,” said Eileen. “She wouldn’t just hand it to you. We had to be very active.”
As soon as Kim began drawing about her sensitivity to hearing, Eileen was able to advocate for her. When Kim drew a picture of kids chasing her home from school, Eileen could identify the kids from the details in the picture.
And when Kim’s pictures were heartbreaking —such as the self-portrait of a 13-year-old clutching a blanket, a tear rolling from her eye as she realizes she is autistic — Eileen was able to console her daughter.
She also could use the drawings to Kim’s advantage. Eileen would prepare teachers for the school year with a portfolio of art.
“Kim was afforded opportunity because of her drawings,” said Eileen. “They realized she wasn’t a glass half-empty. She was a glass half-full.”
It’s noted the Kim is able to articulate her “needs through her art”—-”loathing” at the word “retarded”
The Miller family was discovering Kim’s needs through her art.
And for Kim, art was an outlet. She was able to express her loathing of the word “retarded,” or the feeling of rejection. Masks appear frequently in her art:
“One reason is I adore ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ And second, one of the things interesting to me is deception or outward appearances,” said Kim, who added with a smile, “And I like costumey stuff.”
Yet another reason why art class, and art, are essential.
This book sounds like a good one. When I got the JKP newsletter I placed this one on my amazon wish list.
I’d really like to see more of her artwork, too.
Thanks for the link- that looks like a great book. One of my daughters is able to communicate very effectively through her art- for years we were more able to determine her state of mind by her scrapbooks than through her verbal communication, and it’s still the best way to determine what she’s really thinking about. I think that art therapy and art class are very much underrated by a lot of people.
Absolutely stunning. I found some more here: http://www.kindtree.org/notecardgroupKMSP.html
Kim’s art gives her a reliable, trusted medium of expressive communication that is taken seriously. Having such an expressive communication medium makes all the difference in the world.
For other autistic children (and adults!) who do not have Kim’s degree of artistic talent, AAC (augmentive/alternative communication) techniques — and the training to use them — can provide that expressive-communication-medium-taken-seriously. Keyboarding, sign language, and picture-boards and -books are some of the alternatives available.
Wider adoption of AAC is hampered by too much red tape, and not enough funding, training, and education of teachers, providers, and case workers.
Every autistic individual should have the opportunity to establish a trusted, reliable expressive communication medium that is taken seriously.
AAC can enable far more non-speaking autistic people to be treated “glass half-full” rather than “glass half-empty”.
I’m on the board of directors of the Autism National Committee (“AutCom”), which has as its mission the advancement of civil and human rights and of access to communication for all autistic people, at all points across the spectrum, regardless of severity of handicaps.
AutCom is holding its 2008 annual conference in Ann Arbor, MI, in mid-October.
The theme and agenda of the conference is, I think, a constructive response to the story of Kim’s picture of herself clutching a blanket, a tear rolling from her eye as she realizes she is autistic: by coming together and sharing experiences and know-how with autistic peers and forward-thinking parents, educators, and providers, despair at the realization one is autistic can be turned around into hope, and humor, and shared experience, and camaraderie in the process of surmounting the challenges involved.
And AutCom is not the only venue in which to find such community: every June, in western Pennsylvania near Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, there is Autreat — the annual conference/retreat of Autism Network International, the autistic self-advocacy and networking organization founded 16 years ago by Jim Sinclair, Kathy Grant, and Donna Williams. (Follow the Autreat link above and look for the link for the online discussion group, to get on a mailing list for updates on next year’s Autreat.)
My son Jeremy has attended most years’ Autreats with me. By doing so, he’s come into contact with a wide variety of other autistic people — kids younger than him and older than him, young adults, older adults; some who speak, some who don’t; some who need a great deal of help from a support person, some who are independent, and all points in between; some who can’t read, some who’ve finished graduate school, and all points in between. And he’s come away with positive attitudes about what it means to be autistic. About what he can do, and grow and learn to do, not what he can’t.
I think it is vitally important for our autistic kids (and adult family members!) to meet and share with fellow-travelers in positive ways. And it’s equally important for us, their caregivers, to be doing the same. And to make that happen, we need to enable expressive communication, whether through speech or AAC, or a combination.
More about Kim at a book signing and open house here via KPIC.
I just ordered the book this morning at amazon along with White Fang for Nick to read for literature lesson that started this week.
In the Hartford Courant, another young artist, 15-year-old Ben Carroll. Carroll has autism and paints animals: “I love to paint animals. I never paint people. I never paint buildings, trees and flowers. I only like to paint animals because I’m a big animal lover.”
Forewordmagazine.com has a lovely review of the book if anyone is interested. Kim and Eileen have a website:
thegirlwhospokewithpictures.com
There is much more to the story than just autism and art…
I heard Eileen speak about issues of advocacy, communication through art, building support between educators and families utilizing stories of her own personal experience. A truly inspiring experience.
Has anyone read “The Girl Who Spoke With Pictures” yet? It is awesome! Going to read it again.