Autistic son communicates with painting

Photo and story by Sunny Manary

He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t make eye contact. But his painting caught the eye of his caregivers. Christopher Taylor, son of Cathlamet resident Dian Eakin, is autistic. For the past 20 years, he has lived in a Spokane group home.

The painting was selected as the representation of what autistic children can do, Dian said. His painting won the 5th Annual Mayor’s Proclamation sponsored by the NW Autism Center and Autism Society of Washington (ASW), Spokane Chapter.

During the month of April, which is “Autism Awareness Month,” it hung in Spokane City Hall.

“It’s so odd, because he has never, ever, ever drawn anything before,” she said. Her son is not verbal. “He has never said to me, ‘Mommy, I love you,’” she said.

When he was little, Christopher had echolalia, meaning he would repeat the last syllable he heard. “I would say, don’t play in the street, it could be unsafe, and he would say ‘safe’.” But he hasn’t spoken in years, she said.

Autism appears in a child in the toddler years, Dian explained. They don’t start talking like regular babies would. Compared to what the situation was in 1970 when she discovered her son had a problem, it has become very common. One in 150 children is diagnosed as being autistic.

When Christopher, now 41, was 18 months old, Dian said she knew something was wrong. Living in Germany on a military base at the time, she took him to the American doctors on base. She said they didn’t know what was wrong. She had to tell them her theory.

Many people don’t know what autism is. When she found her son had the condition, researchers thought it the parents' fault. It’s not, Dian said. It has nothing to do with a parent’s mental ability, or not loving the child enough. “That’s a theory they had for a long time.”

Dian hasn’t seen her son in five years, but she knows he is safe. However, she said it is sad. “Sad for me; I think Christopher is content with who he is. I think he is content in his mind.” But he doesn’t understand that his mother is sad, or why.

Dian said she isn’t sure where in Christopher’s mind the painting came from. “A flash of something in his brain, I don’t know. But there are savant skills and they are just amazing.”