Expression can sometimes be difficult for people with autism. Children can be delayed in acquiring language and so struggle to show what they are thinking and feeling.
Speech and language therapists are key in helping these children to develop an alternative communication system other than speech. For example enabling a child to use a signing system so that they can convey their wants and needs.
And one little girl with autism is amazing people all over the globe with her paintings which her parents believe help her to express her love of nature and of movement
Widespread News Coverage
The Independent newspaper recently reported on her story…..
Iris Grace, who is five-years-old and lives with her family in Leicestershire, began painting last year, and has already been praised by buyers, collectors and galleries for her work’s intense colour, immediacy, and open composition.
She has garnered praise across Europe, Asia and America for her astonishing artwork.
Her paintings are sold to private art collectors in the UK and around the world for thousands of pounds each, with all profits going towards art materials and therapy.
Arabella Carter-Johnson, Iris’s mother, said that Iris loves being outside and that she can see “so much of nature in her paintings”.
“She will watch water, trees, wind, leaves, flowers, birds, clouds… she is so interested in movement and how it changes things.”
She added that Iris is “very musical” and has been since she was a baby.
“It was the one thing that always calmed her,” she said. “Iris is particularly into classical music at the moment and knows all of the orchestra instruments. She adores the violin.”
Iris’s cat Thula is another source of inspiration, and features regularly in her work, such as her painting ‘Raining Cats’.
“There have been a lot of references to Monet because of the Impressionistic style. We have had many artists, dealers and galleries contact us who are very complimentary about her work which is lovely,” Iris’s mother said.
“For us though the joy that Iris gets from creating her pieces is the highlight, how it changes her mood, how happy it makes her.”
Due to a lack of awareness, people with autism and their friends, family and carers often struggle to explain just how strong an impact it can have on a person’s life.
“By following Iris’s interests, her ‘spark’, I have been able to engage her in many things,’ Iris’s mother said.
“We have started our own activity club that supports children with autism, and run that every Saturday morning.”
Social Media Impact
Celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher have shared Iris’s work on social media, while three-time BAFTA award winner Olivia Colman showed her support by reading a poem for avideo about Iris.
Several high-profile figures are active in raising awareness of autism, including actor Daniel Radcliffe, who is a patron for the Autism Research Trust.
“I am sure his [Ashton Kutcher’s] post has had a huge impact, said Iris’s mother. “Our society now is so interested in what celebrities say or do that any comments from them will undoubtedly raise awareness.”
On her own website Iris is described as having an extraordinary talent to express herself through painting. She is autistic and is only just starting to talk but is able to paint in a style far beyond her years.
Getting the Word Out with Art
Her family describe how they want to share her art to raise awareness of her condition and inspire other families in similar situations to theirs. Autism is currently affecting around 100,000 children in the UK and these numbers are rising. In the summer of 2013 Iris’s story was published Globally in 207 different countries and over 1.7 million people visited her site with now over 76 thousand following her adventures on Facebook. She has sold paintings to private art collectors here in the UK and all over the world, in Europe, America, South America and Asia.
All profits from the sales of her art go towards more art materials and her on going private therapists – occupational therapy, speech therapy, yoga, music therapy and her future.
They describe Iris as delightful, funny, serene, dainty, intelligent, crafty and utterly gorgeous and that she loves nature, water, flowers, trees, wind, books, pictures and dancing on tip toes.
On her website her family say that from a photograph you wouldn’t think that anything was different but there is, Iris is Autistic. She is now starting to speak but that doesn’t come easily to her and she has great trouble with interacting with others but expresses herself through movement and art.
How Painting Can Help
Since she was diagnosed in December 2011 her family has been able to learn about how they could help their daughter. With the expert help of many therapists she changed dramatically in just a short space of time. She used to be consumed by books, eye contact was a rare occurrence, she didn’t want to or know how to play with us, showed obsessive behaviours, got desperately distressed when we took her near any other children and her sleep patterns were all over the place.
On her web site it says: “She now rides on my back in fits of laughter, squealing with delight, plays, communicates by creating her own signs, a few small words and her sleeping is much better. We still have a long way to go with her social skills and speech, but we are having many more ‘good days’ and one of her favourite activities is painting.
“We have been encouraging Iris to paint to help with speech therapy, joint attention and turn taking. Then we realised that she is actually really talented and has an incredible concentration span of around 2 hours each time she paints. I make up some cups of very watery paints, she chooses which one she would like to use and gets me to make more when she needs it and she mixes her own colours from mug to mug. Her autism has created a style of painting which I have never seen in a child of her age, she has an understanding of colours and how they interact with each other. She beams with excitement and joy when I get out the paints, it lifts her mood every time. She has found a way of expressing herself that is so beautiful, so we wanted to share it and thereby raise awareness of her condition, which is currently affecting around 100,000 children in the UK and these numbers are rising.”
So far Iris has had over 1 million pageviews across 207 different countries.
She has been Published in 4 National Papers within the UK and China Times, Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Huffington Post, German tabloid Bild and many more. She has featured on Yahoo, MSN, ABC, ITV and countless online news channels.
Further Information
To see the Independent’s story, Click Here
To see Iris’s website, Click Here
Written by Rachel Harrison, speech and language therapist, on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services.
