There's a pic of one of the boy's drawings in the article. He must be an Aspie since he wasn't diagnosed until age 5.
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/s2.cfm?id=601842002
Lloyd Allanson was diagnosed with autism last year His drawings have been selected for exhibition by his mother Lorene Amet and her partner Richard Lathe.
Images of a boy’s life
Susan Mansfield
The colourful canvases would not look out of place in a contemporary art gallery. But Inside Out, an exhibition of paintings and photographs currently at the Traverse Theatre bar in Edinburgh, is no ordinary art show. The paintings are the story of a family’s struggle to come to terms with their son’s autism, a journey of discovery, creativity and hope.
The paintings are signed simply "Alouette", named after the French song which is a favourite of six-year-old Lloyd Allanson. But the work is the product of a unique family collaboration: Lloyd, who has autism, his mother, Lorene Amet, and Lorene’s partner, Richard Lathe. Lloyd’s meticulously detailed drawings have been developed by Amet and Lathe into beautiful abstract oil paintings.
‘Right from the beginning I was impressed by Lloyd’s drawings. I thought they were beautiful, that they should be shown’
When Lloyd was diagnosed with autism a year ago, Amet, who trained as a research scientist, and Lathe, a geneticist, set out to discover more about the condition, which is often misunderstood and mistreated. While they used their skills as scientists to find out more about its causes, Amet also started to draw on her own artistic background.
"I have always been surrounded by art," she says. "My mother is an artist, my brother is an art teacher. Right from the beginning I was impressed by Lloyd’s drawings. I thought they were beautiful, that they should be shown. I added the colour as a means of helping people to access the beauty in them."
As she and Lathe worked on enlarging and colouring the paintings, they started to become aware of elements in them they had not noticed before.
"As we started to learn more about Lloyd’s needs, his drawings made much more sense. He was drawing images of his need to be covered, to structure the space around him," she says.
Some paintings, like Mother and Child, seem to communicate a feeling of deep security; others, like Someone Met a Cow, contain a fear as deep and primal as that in Edward Munch’s The Scream.
"Through doing this I was getting closer to my son," says Amet. "The process of drawing for me was a process of understanding, accepting and living. I want to contribute to what he has done, raise it to a level people will see as art."
She hopes that the exhibition will increase public understanding of autism, which has increased dramatically in recent years, with around 500,000 children in the UK known to be "on the autistic spectrum". Little is known about the causes of the condition, although some parents have linked it to the controversial MMR vaccine.
Those with autism usually have difficulty communicating and relating to the world around them, and often display ritualistic, repetitive behaviour. Amet believes that Lloyd is unable to filter out all the fast-moving sights and sounds of the modern world in the way that most of us do without thinking.
"It’s like when you’re talking to someone on a mobile phone," she says. "All the background noise sounds much louder, you can’t filter it out. That is what it is like for him, not just physically but emotionally. The modern world is overwhelming. I think the pace of life today has a part to play in why autism is increasing. It’s a major issue now in society and we have to find ways to understand and deal with it, rather than just focusing on the MMR.
"It is misunderstood a lot," she says. "I used to be ashamed going shopping with Lloyd. If he had a tantrum, people would look at me as if they were wondering why my child was so badly behaved. I just wanted to run away."
Lloyd started to show the classic signs of autism last year when he started primary school. He is now on the Son-Rise Progamme, an intensive home-based system of learning developed in the United States to help those with autism. Money raised from the sale of the paintings will help fund this programme.
The link between creativity and autism is well established. Several leading artists, including Andy Warhol and LS Lowry, are believed to have suffered from forms of the condition. Recently, the Scottish artist Peter Howson made public that he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism.
Like the autistic man portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man, some of those with autism have extraordinary talents. Autistic artist Joshua Whitehouse, 11, from the West Midlands, has recently started to sell his intricate drawings through commercial galleries for more than £500 each.
Lorene Amet is planning to organise a conference about autism in Edinburgh in December, with an accompanying exhibition of artwork by autistic children. "Although the illness is distressing for families going through it, there is hope. There is a lot we can learn from it," she says.
Inside Out is in the theatre bar at the Traverse, Edinburgh, until 8 June. All paintings are for sale, prices negotiable
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/s2.cfm?id=601842002
Lloyd Allanson was diagnosed with autism last year His drawings have been selected for exhibition by his mother Lorene Amet and her partner Richard Lathe.
Images of a boy’s life
Susan Mansfield
The colourful canvases would not look out of place in a contemporary art gallery. But Inside Out, an exhibition of paintings and photographs currently at the Traverse Theatre bar in Edinburgh, is no ordinary art show. The paintings are the story of a family’s struggle to come to terms with their son’s autism, a journey of discovery, creativity and hope.
The paintings are signed simply "Alouette", named after the French song which is a favourite of six-year-old Lloyd Allanson. But the work is the product of a unique family collaboration: Lloyd, who has autism, his mother, Lorene Amet, and Lorene’s partner, Richard Lathe. Lloyd’s meticulously detailed drawings have been developed by Amet and Lathe into beautiful abstract oil paintings.
‘Right from the beginning I was impressed by Lloyd’s drawings. I thought they were beautiful, that they should be shown’
When Lloyd was diagnosed with autism a year ago, Amet, who trained as a research scientist, and Lathe, a geneticist, set out to discover more about the condition, which is often misunderstood and mistreated. While they used their skills as scientists to find out more about its causes, Amet also started to draw on her own artistic background.
"I have always been surrounded by art," she says. "My mother is an artist, my brother is an art teacher. Right from the beginning I was impressed by Lloyd’s drawings. I thought they were beautiful, that they should be shown. I added the colour as a means of helping people to access the beauty in them."
As she and Lathe worked on enlarging and colouring the paintings, they started to become aware of elements in them they had not noticed before.
"As we started to learn more about Lloyd’s needs, his drawings made much more sense. He was drawing images of his need to be covered, to structure the space around him," she says.
Some paintings, like Mother and Child, seem to communicate a feeling of deep security; others, like Someone Met a Cow, contain a fear as deep and primal as that in Edward Munch’s The Scream.
"Through doing this I was getting closer to my son," says Amet. "The process of drawing for me was a process of understanding, accepting and living. I want to contribute to what he has done, raise it to a level people will see as art."
She hopes that the exhibition will increase public understanding of autism, which has increased dramatically in recent years, with around 500,000 children in the UK known to be "on the autistic spectrum". Little is known about the causes of the condition, although some parents have linked it to the controversial MMR vaccine.
Those with autism usually have difficulty communicating and relating to the world around them, and often display ritualistic, repetitive behaviour. Amet believes that Lloyd is unable to filter out all the fast-moving sights and sounds of the modern world in the way that most of us do without thinking.
"It’s like when you’re talking to someone on a mobile phone," she says. "All the background noise sounds much louder, you can’t filter it out. That is what it is like for him, not just physically but emotionally. The modern world is overwhelming. I think the pace of life today has a part to play in why autism is increasing. It’s a major issue now in society and we have to find ways to understand and deal with it, rather than just focusing on the MMR.
"It is misunderstood a lot," she says. "I used to be ashamed going shopping with Lloyd. If he had a tantrum, people would look at me as if they were wondering why my child was so badly behaved. I just wanted to run away."
Lloyd started to show the classic signs of autism last year when he started primary school. He is now on the Son-Rise Progamme, an intensive home-based system of learning developed in the United States to help those with autism. Money raised from the sale of the paintings will help fund this programme.
The link between creativity and autism is well established. Several leading artists, including Andy Warhol and LS Lowry, are believed to have suffered from forms of the condition. Recently, the Scottish artist Peter Howson made public that he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism.
Like the autistic man portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man, some of those with autism have extraordinary talents. Autistic artist Joshua Whitehouse, 11, from the West Midlands, has recently started to sell his intricate drawings through commercial galleries for more than £500 each.
Lorene Amet is planning to organise a conference about autism in Edinburgh in December, with an accompanying exhibition of artwork by autistic children. "Although the illness is distressing for families going through it, there is hope. There is a lot we can learn from it," she says.
Inside Out is in the theatre bar at the Traverse, Edinburgh, until 8 June. All paintings are for sale, prices negotiable