Drawing Autism

Book excerpt: Editor Jill Mullin is the recipient of the inaugural Felix in Art Award, presented by Extreme Kids & Crew "Drawing Autism highlights an 'area where individuals with autism can have great abilities.'...Jill Mullin, a clinical therapist, explores the recurring themes in art made by people with autism." --New York Times Book Review One of Brain Picking's Best Art, Design, and Photography Books of 2014 "This book is a testament to the power of art to reveal the inner world of people living with ASD." --Publishers Weekly "A jaw-droppingly beautiful book." --Library Journal Included in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's "96 Books For Your Summer Reading List" under "7 Visually Appealing Books" "Drawing Autism is not just a book about autism and art--it's a book about being human and expressing selfhood in all its beautiful, messy, complex forms. Add Drawing Autism to your wish list, tell your friends about it, and show it to your kids on the spectrum." --Autism/Asperger's Digest "Mullin, a behavior analyst, brings together fascinating works by 40 artists on the spectrum with their answers to her questions about their process." --The Boston Globe "Editor Jill Mullin has collected artwork from a host of painters and other graphic artists who are all somewhere on the spectrum. The fascinating and often lovely reprints in Drawing Autism help provide another perspective on the capabilities of people with autism." --Time Out New York "Mullin's clinical background in Applied Behavior Analysis, combined with more than a decade helping individuals with ASD, serve her well as the book's curator." --The Portland Phoenix " Editor Jill Mullin] has put together a beautiful and stimulating exhibition-in-a-book." --Story Circle Book Reviews "Drawing Autism is absolutely wonderful in its entirety." --Brain Pickings "Jill Mullin embraces the full range and spectrum of autism and artistic expression...Rich and varied images." --BookTrib "This book is like a key to opening doors across educational and medical landscapes. But perhaps even more importantly, the fact that many of the artists are able to explain what they were feeling at the time of their drawings will surely help this book find solid footing among parents, caregivers, and extended family members who have, up to this point, struggled to understand the inner workings of their precious loved one's autistic mind." --New York Journal of Books "A book of astonishing beauty." --BOOKS (France) "What is the actual experience of living with autism in a deep-felt sense, beyond the social stereotypes and headline-worthy superskills? Drawing Autism, a celebration of the artistry and self-expression found in artwork by people diagnosed with autism, explores just that. The stunning volume features works by more fifty international contributors, from children to established artists, that illustrate the rich multiplicity of the condition." --The Atlantic Over the last decade autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become an international topic of conversation, knowing no racial, ethnic, or social barriers. Behavior analyst and educator Jill Mullin has assembled a staggering array of work from established artists like Gregory Blackstock and Jessica Park to the unknown but no less talented. Their creations, coupled with artist interviews, comprise a fascinating and compelling book that serves to educate and inspire anyone who knows someone diagnosed with ASD. Mullin's introduction and the foreword by best-selling author Temple Grandin provide an overview of autism and advocate for nurturing the talents, artistic and otherwise, of autistic individuals.