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autistic artist expresses himself in work o stbiiffville s danny muller earning recognition for his artistic talents marlene mccarty correspondent weve all heard that a pictures worth a thousand words but for danny muller his pictures are his words muller 23 is an artist and a very exceptionalone at that his smile is infectious and his laughing dark eyes light- up with pleasure as his mother proudly shows off his work v and this young artist has every reason to be proud for even though muller is unable to verbally communi cate he does express himself very eloquently through his paintings y diagnosed at the age of three as an autistic child mullers life has not been an easy one but his mother josie whos spent the past 20 years fighting for danny said that through it all the endless rounds of doc tors drugs schools and group homes the one thing in dannyv life that has been a constant is his art using wax crayons and oil pastels on paper he has devel oped his own very simple style vigorous coloiirihg followed by a diligent process of scratching the surface with his fingernails creates a sense of depth vitality and movement in his work and mullers sense of colour combinations ever i changing evokes an infinite number of moods c he started painting at the age of 1 1 and never stopped his mother recalled the family going on trips in the station wagon with danny in the back painting furiouslyall the way but at that time and for years afterward neither josie an artist herself nor the rest of thefamily realized that his work was that of a real artist in 1990 muller was accepted at kerrys place a group home for autistic children two years later while visiting kerrys place the dean of york univer sitys fine arts department was so overwhelmingly impressed by his paintings that he arranged a showing in decem ber 1992 the work was wellreceived and josie was told her son had a natural talent today six years later while continuing to paint under the watchful eye of art therapist suzanne bouduas muller is slowly but surely gaining recog nition in march mullers work was exhibited at walter hall uni versity of toronto the show was by invitation from judy lomas of the toronto sympho ny orchestra and lawrence spero president of the board of directors of haadd homes for adults with autism and perva- stouffvillc artist danny mullcr 23 speaks with his paintings photo by lori emmerson sive developmental disorders lomas is also the mother of an autistic child and founder of haadd hoping to bring together autistic artists haadd joined with reena a similar nonprof it agency dedicated to helping developmentally challenged people and together presented art by residents of haadd as well as crafts by clients of reena six of mullers paintings were presented that evening and speros wife was so moved by one of them that she purchased it immediately josie then took the remaining five paintings and displayed them at her workplace loomis toles art supply in thornhiil to her delight the many artists who frequent the store never fail to be astounded when they learn that the artist is hot only her son but autistic as well i finally believe it said josie i see with new eyes my sons an artist muller presently resides at jordans place a home for autistic adults funded by kerrys place in queensville but spends every other weekend with his parents brother and sister at their kennedy road home in stouffville his most recent works are on display at jordans place and sell for 50 unframed- josie hopes that exposing her sons work to the public may help him gain some measure of independence in the future i hope that people will become educated about autism theres still so many who dont understand she explained mmmhmnnp