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 352




For the rest of the project I'm going to have a few people in Kelt's
life write guest posts. This entry is from one of his best friends, Sean.

Through my life there have been many people, places, and events that have made me who I am and will continue for the rest of my life. In 18 years two things have been the foundation of who I am today, sports and being friends with Kelton.

Kelton has been my best friend since kindergarten and we have had so many great memories together. The thing about Kelton is that he has autism. Some people may think it's weird hanging out with an autistic kid after school and being friends with him, but he has made me who I am today in a huge way. He shows me that no matter what I do in life, there will always be a good thing happening and to keep my head up no matter what happens. He brings a smile to my face every time I see him even if I'm in a bad mood. He'll crack a joke to make me laugh; he'll try to comfort me, or just say hi to make me smile. I helped with Special Olympics bowling this year and he was one of the athletes. I have never seen someone so happy participating in an event until I watched him bowl. There were a few times that he didn't hit any pins and stomped his feet and grunted like he was mad, but seconds later he walked back to his ball, smiled and said, "Watch Sean, I'll hit all the pins down next time." No matter what, he finds joy in everything that he does, which has rubbed off on me, making me the person I am today. I don't know what I'd be like if Kelton wasn't in my life.
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