"...He was all smiles and looked truly excited to work with me. He noticed that I was looking at the pictures on the wall and he quickly told me a quick fun fact about a certain couple that he said were now divorced. I know divorce is not a funny thing to laugh about, but i just had to laugh at how random it was. After he said this; I knew Jonas and I were going to get along.
The first thing I noticed about Jonas was his ability to engage in a conversation. While I prepared the paints; I asked him a couple of questions about Art. His mother told me that he's taking art this year and so I casually asked if he has ever painted on a big canvas before. He answered, "No, but I have Mr. Fujihara for Art and he said I'm his best student!" I wasn't surprised when Jonas answered almost all my questions on primary colors and complementary colors. He even shared his experiences with his past art projects. After we talked about Mr. Fujihara and his methods of teaching, I asked him what he'd like to paint. I said, "What would you like to paint Jonas? What is something that you love or what are you interested in?" He thought about it for awhile, but I didn't get an answer. So I asked him another question, "Well what's your favorite color Jonas?" His face lit up and he said "Blue!". So I took out all my blue acrylic paints and he quickly chose a deep dark blue, which I loved as well. He continued to tell me how much he loves the oceans. At the very moment I knew exactly what sort of abstract painting Jonas can do. I had a vision in my head and I was ready to guide him.
"It's blue like the sky and like the ocean!" Jonas was happily talking about his passion for beaches, oceans, and Lake Michigan as we painted the first layer of blue on the canvas. I actually didn't have to guide him much; his hand knew exactly how to hold the brush and he was even able to multi-task. While I was refilling his paint supply and mixing the paints he talked to me about history, music, and of course "oceans". He was truly a wonderful person and there was not a single dull moment with Jonas.
After we painted the first layer of blues on the canvas, I instructed him to stop for awhile so that the paint can dry slightly. For the time being I took the liberty to show Jonas one of my favorite art books. It's a book of collected 'micro art', I explained to him what it was and how beautiful everything in the world is. We looked through pages of zoomed in viruses, tree cells, fungi, and fish scale cells. Simultaneously I asked him what he thinks each picture looked like to him. He has so many answers and his opinions were thoughtful and in a way more beautiful than the picture. "Yes...it IS beautiful....the yellows and oranges remind me of the sunsets and the sun". Before we continued with our painting again, we came across this beautiful picture of what looked like majestic blue waves. Suddenly he said, "That looks like our painting". I looked at him and I looked at this beautiful picture and I decided that Jonas is telling me something. Instantly I felt that he wanted our project to mimic this picture. Instead of going with my plan... Jonas was guiding me.
After we painted I felt a sense of accomplishment and happiness when I saw that Jonas was smiling from ear to ear, congratulating me, my aunt (who was just taking pictures of us haha!) and himself for how nice our painting looked. I was touched by his warmness towards me. He was a such a good painting partner; more than I could ask for! While our painting was set aside to dry, we proceeded to our next activity; modeling clay. He continued to amaze me with his hilarious stories. We decided to make our favorite animals with the clay. I nearly toppled over my seat when he imitated a Sea Lion bark! I was so startled because it came out of nowhere! I showed him my imitation of a goose and a duck. He laughed and continued to outshine me with his great animal cry skills!
He told me about the cruise he went to last week with the Lodi High Band and how he played for the people on the boat. He was even reenacting how the boat swayed and nearly made him sea sick. The last time I talked to his mother and I was able to find out that he is a trombone player. Towards the end of our amazing meeting Jonas was kind enough to show me his trombone. He promised me earlier that he'd play some songs for me. He played numerous songs he played at the cruise, but Jonas surprised me with a special number. Jonas's father came in and said, "Why don't you play 'Hey Jude' for Carmelle. My eyes widened because that is one of my favorite Beatles songs ever. I had to hold back a tear or two (partly because I'm just an emotional person and I like crying) and at the same time I couldn't stop smiling.
Jonas has taught me so much within a short amount of time. His sincerity and true uninhibited cheerfulness was something I needed in the midst of all my stress and worries. I expected to learn a lot from him and I did, but more importantly he show me hope. His eagerness to learn and participate in almost anything is what many of us should be. When he told me about his future plans, I couldn't help but envy the certain passion he had in his eyes. Jonas already knows what he wants to be and his choice was not for money or fame, but what his heart truly desires. Many of us are led astray with unnecessary ambition to attain material things in life, but for Jonas he knows what true happiness is and that is enough. It's true that it's extremely difficult bringing up an autistic child. If you ask any parent with this they'll agree.
I understand that not everyone with autism can function as well as Jonas. I also know that the cure for autism is something the world is desperately waiting for. The cure would surely make everything easier, but for now while exact arrival of this cure is unknown, there is one thing certain about autism. People that are blessed enough to know or meet people with autism learn and experience the true meaning of patience, innocence, and love. We have to acknowledge the parents and the child for their true affections for one another and the bond they made even in great difficulty. That is something I am blessed enough to see for myself. With this whole experience I was both enlightened and I feel like I am inspired to do more things in this field. Like what they say, little things that you experience shape the person you become and I can definitely say that meeting Jonas has made me aware of things I cannot learn otherwise.
I'm grateful for him and his family for being so kind and supportive with my senior project. Before I left their home, I wrote a quick dedication behind our painting. I also decided to let Jonas keep our abstract 'ocean' painting since he liked it so much. I know that I wrote in one of the forms that I was going to donate it to a school in Elkgrove, but I thought Jonas and his family would like to keep it for their own enjoyment. In regards to more exciting news although my senior project end product is completed, his mother told me that they are also working on a art project together. She even asked me if I could assist them in the weeks to come and I was more than happy to agree! This is not the end of my friendship with Jonas... it's only the beginning."
-elle
Pistachio nuts-chocolate shorts combo: 
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