Nat’s Pooh picture

Thursday 6 January 2005 — This is nearly 20 years old. Be careful.

My 15-year-old autistic son drew this picture today:

Nat's drawing of Pooh characters

He’s drawn four characters (Piglet, Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore), each in their characteristic color, and labelled in the same color. He’s signed his name in red. I really like this picture, partly because Nat never draws pictures.

I was considering using this picture as a jumping off point for writing about one of the many philosophical quandries facing parents of disabled children: the disparity between his chronological age and developmental age, or the difficulty of choosing appropriate educational goals, or discerning the fine line between his personality and his disability.

But I’m not going to write about any of those things. Instead, I think I’ll just enjoy the picture.

Comments

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Tonetheman 11:38 PM on 6 Jan 2005
Pictures drawn by your kid are always great. No matter what.
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Richard H. Schwartz 7:26 AM on 7 Jan 2005
Hmmm.... virtualfridgedoor.com is unregistered. Note: refrigeratordoor.com, fridgedoor.com and many other variations are registered, but none of them (afaik) are public sites for posting kids' art work. But Google, on the other hand, quickly reveals http://www.educationindex.com/weaselworld/fridge.html , which does. Looks a little under-populated to me, though. Plus, the lack of magnets makes it somehow less satisfying.

Great picture, btw, and I definitely approve of the subject matter. "Things are always so much more grand and wonderful when your friends are there to share them." - Pooh Bear

-rich
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David 7:27 AM on 7 Jan 2005
It almost looks like NYC street graffiti, a very fun picture!
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Rock 11:06 AM on 7 Jan 2005
Refridgerator door hell, you should frame it and hang it in a place of honor in your house, Ned! Since you said it is rare, and since I think it is asthetically pleasing, it should hang permanently. Maybe in a common living area, maybe in a hall, maybe in a room. Think about how much it would mean to him, for a couple of bucks and 2 minutes of swinging a hammer.

And then you get the joy of watching his surprise and happiness at the "recognition".

Just an idea...

** Rock (Dad to 5 kids)
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Kim 12:53 PM on 7 Jan 2005
a.a. himself would be proud of Nat! That is our gift as parents of autistic children. What is mundane to parents of typical kids is sheer delight and reason to celebrate to us. Kim
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DC 1:46 PM on 7 Jan 2005
Thinking about the "disparity between his chronological age and developmental age" is on my mind now too. I am also the father of an autistic son (age almost 6). He's high functioning, so can do a lot, but also needs much support. Though he makes amazing progress every month, I'm starting to see the increasing gap between him and his typical peers. I'm not looking forward to having to deal with that in the future.

My son does draw -- we've worked on that *extensively*; only in the last couple of months has he begun to draw new things from his mind rather than copies, and just in the last week he's started to draw some of his experiences! ("this is us at the airport").
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Deb 2:15 PM on 8 Jan 2005
Be philosophical another day - right now, just enjoy the moment. :)

(Thanks for popping by my blog and letting me know about yours.)
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Laurel Collins 3:39 PM on 16 Jan 2005
Hi Ned-We have mutual friends in Bob and Andrea Congdon. This picture literally brought tears to my eyes. Way to go Nat! Laurel (mom of Andrew 5 with autism)

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