BRUSH STROKES

Sandra, a young wife addicted to alcohol is pregnant. Despite warnings from her doctor and husband Williams she continued with this unhealthy lifestyle.  Eventually she gives birth to a baby boy and after a few years they find out that he is autistic. The young couple are devastated but the unexpected happens when the husband decides to divorce her, blaming her for their child’s condition.

The father was given custody of the child due to his mother’s alcohol addiction. He is now faced with the responsibility of caring for his son Richard. As time went by Richard always locked himself up in his room armed with a brush and canvas. He scribbled randomly on the board and it gave him great satisfaction, This got the father worried and he sought professional help with a therapist. He was told not to be bothered, that it is a normal trait in autistic children to exhibit strange behaviour. Williams went ahead and engaged the services of the therapist to work with his son.

 One sunny afternoon Williams invited a friend Alex from the UK to his home for a business meeting. .When they got into the house they saw Richard and the therapist in the living room;  the young lad was scribbling away on the canvas. The father was embarrassed and had to explain to his guest his son's unusual behaviour and the challenges he faced with his upbringing. He expressed his anger at Richard's work and said "all he does everyday is to paint this rubbish".

The meeting went on as planned and when  Alex was about to leave he asked to see the child’s other paintings and was reluctantly shown to his room by the father. After looking at the paintings for some minutes, with great enthusiasm on his face, the friend couldn’t believe what he saw. Being an expert in paintings he noticed that each of the 76 paintings conveyed a message; a story of loneliness, unhappiness and a desire to be loved. Richard had been trying to pass on this message to his father and his only means of communication was through his paintings which his father never understood. Moved with compassion, the friend asked of the child’s mother and was told she left months ago. Williams  was advised to reconcile with his wife for his child's sake. It was obvious from his paintings that he needed the care and affection by stable parental figures in a loving environment. The following month the wife having gone through rehabilitation returned home with great joy to be back with her family. The mother is planning an arts exhibition of Richard’s paintings and they are all looking forward to what the future holds for them.

#specialneedsmums  #specialneeds  #understandingautism  #circlelearningcentre #sensoryprocessingdisorder.