Of Black Cats and Autism

April is Autism Awareness Month. I know this because my niece "N" has autism. In almost every other way she's your typical third grader. She has a wicked--and often silly-- sense of humor. She loves stuffed animals, purple, music, reading, spelling, drawing and peanut butter. She used to love cats until a too-close encounter with my Sammy took an ugly turn a few years back.

Now my house is "The House Where The Black Cat Lives."

The entire state of Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman, and assorted former Miss Americas is now --you guessed it --"The Place Where the Black Cat Lives'.

People with autism have difficulty coping with change and facing their fears. Often, they will turn to a comforting activity, usually one involving repetition, to deal with their anxiety. N's therapy of choice is art. Lots of art. Of only one subject. Guess what it is.

We refer to last year's visit to Mississippi as the artist's "black cat period."

Shortly after that visit, I took in a George Rodrigue exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Rodrigue is the South Louisiana artist known for his "Blue Dog" series. Every celebrity worth their salt has a Blue Dog in their collection. A Blue Dog even hangs in the White House art collection. http://www.georgerodrigue.com/rodrigue/index2.htm

Rodrigue reportedly based the Blue Dog concept on the Cajun "loup garou" or werewolf stories of his childhood. The dog itself is a representation of a long-gone family pet, Tiffany. Now I'm pretty sure Rodrigue doesn't have autism, but I was impressed how he used art to conquer not only his childhood bogeyman but also to come to terms with the loss of something he loved.

N may never get over her fear of The Black Cat, but, like Rodrigue, she has found an effective way of coping with it. Who knows where it may lead?

Whoopi Goldberg probably will never want one of N's Black Cat pieces for her collection, but I'm stocking up on black crayons anyway. Because you just never know.

Fore more information about autism and Autism Awareness Month, visit http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_awareness

(By the way N is not the artist behind the great black cat artwork on this blog's header. I got that from http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=cat+clipart#