In 1998 my youngest brother, Kelton, was diagnosed with autism, a developmental disability that affects communication and social interaction. Autism currently affects 1/88 people in the United States. Kelton is a talented individual who runs cross-country and track, wrestles, plays the drums, loves history, and collects bobble heads and keychains.

This year Kelton decided to enroll in his first art class where he discovered his skill for drawing. His unorthodox style made me reconsider my artwork and examine the differences and similarities that exist between our perspectives. According to Paul Collins’ Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism, artists are four times more likely to have autism in their families. Considering the number of artists in my family, this statistic made me question the similarities that exist between Kelton and me. For this reason, we have decided to draw one of his 6,481 keychains a day for one year. These drawings will be as simple and uninhibited as possible. This project will explore our individual perspectives and examine the similarities that exist between us as artists.

Day 109



Kelt had a wrestling match today and even though he didn't win, he got three keychains! One of the dads from the opposing team gave Kelt this keychain along with two others. Kelt has the reputation across the county as being a nice, sociable guy. Despite the sport and its competitive nature, he makes an effort to know everyone, even their families. It's entertaining to watch him interact with other schools at wrestling tournaments because he knows almost every person. In Kelt's case, the anti-social autistic characteristic is definitely a stereotype.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 6, 2011 at 3:44 AM

    Woke up to the sound of Rain in the back yard and can go back to sleep and came on computer to find this...I had a great night early on seeing Kelton and watching Wrestling...your a great artist and you and your sister are great artist and wonderful young adults."Must run in the family" Nathan the Dad from Nooksack

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  2. Kelton and AinsleyJanuary 6, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    Thanks! I blame our parents:) I'm glad Kelt has gotten to know you and your boys. The Nooksack team seems like a great group of guys and Kelt always looks forward to hanging out with them. Thanks again for the keychains and we'll see you guys at Conference!

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