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Christian Early’s first book as an illustrator is Can You See Me? A View of Our World by an Adult with Autism. It is the story of a shark who encounters him on the beach and through his friendly probing manages to “see” Christian past his label and wonders why society doesn’t.
His paintings and cartoons will also be featured in his mother’s second book Diary of a Crazy Woman: One Woman’s Fight to Help her Son with Autism Find a Place in the World. Yet it is important to recognize painting for this twenty-five-year-old adult with autism did not come easily. Christian began his painting career at seventeen with mere awkward lines. At an early age sharks captivated him but his poor fine-motor skills prevented him from excelling in this visual art. Nevertheless with the determination of his artistic mother and with the persistence of many teachers, Christian has succeeded in painting how he sees his world: funny and comical with a sense of laughter few of us possess.
Though at the beginning his art consisted of eyes of lions that jumped at you, eagles that looked deeply into your heart, and other heartfelt animals it has now evolved into cartoon-like characters that strike a smile: funny and crazy ladies with long arms or pointed fingers, portrayals of himself as Garfield or comic heroes, sharks that converse, and unique cartoon stories of talking snails alongside other colorful humorous creations. And now with the creation of the non-profit Art Possibilities he is painting cartoons to modify behavior- something unique.
We invite you to enter into another dimension, unknown until now, where through his strokes and colors this painter offers us the privilege of discovering how a man who has autisms sees our world. And thus remember, that it is not the disability that defines a man. What distinguishes a man from others is his courage to scream his expression no matter the diagnosis or label. So, without further ado, we introduce Christian Early and his unmistakable courage!
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