Meet our next Autism Star: and he is Messy and Beautiful

March 1, 2017 Lisa Maree Domican 337 Views 0 Comments 9 min read

All kids write on walls at some point. A typical wall is blank, boring and just asking for an extra splash of color like a canvas and children are more than willing to help rectify that problem.

Obviously you need a snack while you help decorate

Sometimes, they even help repeatedly before they tire of hearing flustered adults critiquing their masterpieces and using words like “mess”, “again?” and “Do you have any idea how much paint costs?” At some point though, it does end.

A fresh coat of paint is splashed on the wall and everyone goes about their business with a funny story, unless you live at my house.

My six year-old son has classic autism. It was very difficult getting him to write when he was younger, except on the wall. I cleaned and painted a lot. At first they were just scribbles, but then a trend became very clear.

My little guy loves logos. Not just any logos, he adores children’s television production logos.

Every wall of our home has been stamped with logos from Disney, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Noggin, PBS Kids, PBS Kids Go!, WGBH Boston, Treehouse Productions, Cookie Jar, The Learning Box , Sprout, Baby Einstein, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and from “viewers like you, Thank you.”

He adores them in a way that other kids love dolls, trucks and sports. He will watch logo taglines and credits repeatedly until he thinks he is ready to recreate the logo and then it appears everywhere –not only on the walls, but on schoolwork, any scraps of paper laying around, the computer monitor and even an IEP draft.

He got a logo book for Christmas that gets carried around the house and is also serving as a great teacher of finding things alphabetically.

His handwriting at school has progressed to the point that my husband and I have to ask our other children if they wrote things, it’s indistinguishable from them now. So, at some point I will need a whole lot of paint, but right now I am perfectly happy letting him create a logo haven in our home. Progress can be messy and beautiful at the same time.

Cynthia Gregory is the mother to three equally fabulous kids and loves sharing the fun. She just started an Instagram account and would love some company,
http://instagram.com/cgregoryrun#