AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
Fragile is the main character in Brian's stories about autism.
Brian rocked back and forth in his chair Friday afternoon as he flipped through his slideshow about a paper cat named Fragile.
Like 16-year-old Brian, Fragile has autism. A lover of video games, Brian has learned how to express himself through art and storytelling.
"I like to do abstract art," Brian said. "I want to be an artist."
He found out he had autism spectrum disorder when he was 7. Since then, he has researched autism, and through his reading and writing class he found a way to share what he has learned with his classmates and teachers at Wren High School in Piedmont.
"My goal in life is to tell the world what autism is," Brian said. "If I asked kids what autism is, probably 95 percent of them wouldn't know."
To express how he thinks and how he views the world, he created the autistic paper cat Fragile as part of a storytelling assignment for class.
"They (students) can express who they are, and when they present their projects they are learning from each other," said Brian's reading and writing teacher, Jackie Journelle.
Brian draws Fragile in different circumstances at school and home, illustrating the life of someone living with autism.
"We may move funny," reveals one slide that illustrates Fragile, wearing an orange hat and socks, walking rigidly and stiffly. An onlooker questions why Fragile is walking like a zombie.
"We may misunderstand some things," another slide said, illustrating Fragile sitting in math class with aluminum foil on his desk. He had misunderstood the teacher when she said they would be learning to foil, which is a math term.
Other drawings depict Fragile playing alone at recess or having a panic attack because he saw blood after he hurt himself. In the background of some of the drawings, people are laughing at, or saying hurtful things to and about, Fragile.
Just as Brian bounces up and down like Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh" when he is thinking or excited, Fragile snaps his fingers when he's happy.
Brian draws the pictures in his notebook, photographs them using an iPad, then creates a story slideshow with captions for each illustration. He uses information from his research and his life to create Fragile's story. Although Fragile is similar to Brian, he is not exactly like him, as autism is a broad spectrum of disorders and each autistic child is different. Using the iPad, Brian has written a short book about himself and he is also writing a book from the perspective of Fragile's girlfriend, Logophile, which means lover of words.
"It has given him a voice and allowed him to explore," said Wren High School Principal Nichole Boseman about the iPad.
At the end of Fragile's story, two slides depict a teacher holding Fragile's hand, telling him everything is OK. One slide is captioned: "There are some people like teachers and parents who understand."
Brian, whose family wished not to reveal his last name, flipped through his story Friday, slide after slide, explaining in depth what the pictures illustrated and how some of them related to him.
"When you first showed me that, you told me your autism story," Journelle said to Brian.
With the support of his teachers since he transferred to Wren High in October 2015, Brian has changed from a nervous student to one who will break out of his comfort zone, smiling and laughing at jokes told in class.
Through the stories about Fragile, Boseman has gained a better understanding of Brian's point of view, she said. And knowing Brian has helped her understand the importance of embracing who you are.
"I don't think I've met a student who's able to articulate his strengths and weakness like Brian," Boseman said.
For Brian, it wasn't hard to embrace autism. He said he feels happy, and he knows his obstacles.
"It's just who I am," he said.
SOURCE: http://www.independentmail.com/news...45-4ead-37c7-e053-0100007fb723-371169401.html
Fragile is the main character in Brian's stories about autism.
Brian rocked back and forth in his chair Friday afternoon as he flipped through his slideshow about a paper cat named Fragile.
Like 16-year-old Brian, Fragile has autism. A lover of video games, Brian has learned how to express himself through art and storytelling.
"I like to do abstract art," Brian said. "I want to be an artist."
He found out he had autism spectrum disorder when he was 7. Since then, he has researched autism, and through his reading and writing class he found a way to share what he has learned with his classmates and teachers at Wren High School in Piedmont.
"My goal in life is to tell the world what autism is," Brian said. "If I asked kids what autism is, probably 95 percent of them wouldn't know."
To express how he thinks and how he views the world, he created the autistic paper cat Fragile as part of a storytelling assignment for class.
"They (students) can express who they are, and when they present their projects they are learning from each other," said Brian's reading and writing teacher, Jackie Journelle.
Brian draws Fragile in different circumstances at school and home, illustrating the life of someone living with autism.
"We may move funny," reveals one slide that illustrates Fragile, wearing an orange hat and socks, walking rigidly and stiffly. An onlooker questions why Fragile is walking like a zombie.
"We may misunderstand some things," another slide said, illustrating Fragile sitting in math class with aluminum foil on his desk. He had misunderstood the teacher when she said they would be learning to foil, which is a math term.
Other drawings depict Fragile playing alone at recess or having a panic attack because he saw blood after he hurt himself. In the background of some of the drawings, people are laughing at, or saying hurtful things to and about, Fragile.
Just as Brian bounces up and down like Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh" when he is thinking or excited, Fragile snaps his fingers when he's happy.
Brian draws the pictures in his notebook, photographs them using an iPad, then creates a story slideshow with captions for each illustration. He uses information from his research and his life to create Fragile's story. Although Fragile is similar to Brian, he is not exactly like him, as autism is a broad spectrum of disorders and each autistic child is different. Using the iPad, Brian has written a short book about himself and he is also writing a book from the perspective of Fragile's girlfriend, Logophile, which means lover of words.
"It has given him a voice and allowed him to explore," said Wren High School Principal Nichole Boseman about the iPad.
At the end of Fragile's story, two slides depict a teacher holding Fragile's hand, telling him everything is OK. One slide is captioned: "There are some people like teachers and parents who understand."
Brian, whose family wished not to reveal his last name, flipped through his story Friday, slide after slide, explaining in depth what the pictures illustrated and how some of them related to him.
"When you first showed me that, you told me your autism story," Journelle said to Brian.
With the support of his teachers since he transferred to Wren High in October 2015, Brian has changed from a nervous student to one who will break out of his comfort zone, smiling and laughing at jokes told in class.
Through the stories about Fragile, Boseman has gained a better understanding of Brian's point of view, she said. And knowing Brian has helped her understand the importance of embracing who you are.
"I don't think I've met a student who's able to articulate his strengths and weakness like Brian," Boseman said.
For Brian, it wasn't hard to embrace autism. He said he feels happy, and he knows his obstacles.
"It's just who I am," he said.
SOURCE: http://www.independentmail.com/news...45-4ead-37c7-e053-0100007fb723-371169401.html
