Helping others play has a bigger impact than you think!
Last night I had one of the most amazing experiences that fit in so well with our theme of Helping Others Play. For a few years now I have been invited to some of Unica School for Autism’ s events, but this one took the cake. However, before I can start telling you about this experience, I have to first give you some back ground so you can fully understand the amazingness of what happened.
Jeff (not his real name) was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. His parents were very excited about their first child and were devastated when they received the news that their perfect son had autism. Jeff loved to draw and started drawing at the age of 5. He could not relate to other friends or express himself effectively, thus to a big extent Jeff started creating and functioning in his own world. Part of this world he had created for himself, were the soft animals his mother had bought him which he loved to draw.
As he got older he was accepted into Unica School for Autism, however it was a very difficult road for both him and his teachers, as Jeff is very rigid and does not adapt well to change. Drawings became a learning tool for Jeff and in some cases even a reward, because if he completed all his tasks he was allowed to draw. Today Jeff is 17 and still loves to draw, but what makes this story so amazing is that someone recognised the talent this person has by just allowing him to Play.
Susan Slee the owner of Maneki saw one Jeff’s drawings on a piece of cloth at the Unica Charismas market. It was there and then that she decided to incorporate his designs in her new collection and last night was the big brand launch. It was the most wonderful products from kitchen utensils to cups all covered with the most wonderful animal art.
Life has become about performing we are expected to just do and do and do more we need to stop. We need to take time to Play, you never know you might just discover something about yourself or about someone most people have written off. How are you going to make a difference today?
Here are some of his designs:
