Understanding Autism

"He has autism spectrum disorder."
Other mothers busy themselves gathering information about special education after their children are diagnosed with autism. However, I found myself wandering around welfare facilities near our home, observing adults with autism who frequented these places. I'm not sure why I was so curious. Right after sending Gyu-jae to kindergarten, I went to a welfare facility and sit in front of its entrance spent, observing adults with autism. I did it for about three weeks. After that experience, I began to understand just a little bit of adulthood for individuals with autism, and I was able to devise an educational plan for my son, Gyu-jae.

Thorough Education for a Child with Autism

When Gyu-jae entered elementary school, he became a student in a special class, and inclusive education began. Even now, the reality of inclusive education faces many challenges in terms of institutional and environmental factors, as well as societal perceptions. Back then, some 20 years ago, the difficulties were even more pronounced.
Amidst such challenging circumstances, with the dedicated guidance of special education teachers who poured all their efforts into leading the special class like a battle, Gyu-jae gradually adapted to school.

While Gyu-jae was able to take individualized one-on-one lessons, he struggled to adapt to classroom lessons taken together with non-disabled students. He often got up and wandered around the classroom during class. To address this, a method was devised to provide a sketchbook for each lesson and assign a mission to draw a picture that came to mind while listening to the teacher's instructions during class.

Drawing pictures Gyu-jae loves

It seems that the six years of elementary school, along with the sketchbook, were a time when Gyu-jae acquired emotional learning about the joy of drawing on his own. His special class teacher, who observed Gyu-jae's school life, encouraged him to participate in art contests, noting that his drawings were unique and beautiful.

This marked Gyu-jae's first venture of his drawing into the world. He won an award as a Korean student at the European EKF's Autistic Children's Drawing Contest, and a commemorative exhibition was held in Insa-dong's Ssamziegil. I remember he was in the 5 th grade at the time, and I recall his nervousness and excitement as he stood in front of his name-tagged drawing for the first time.

Healing Even Teenager Angst Through Art

As Gyu-jae entered middle school and experienced teenager angst, he began to feel the reality of being different from other students. He would lower his head and mutter to himself, 'Lee Gyu-jae is always last. Last in Korean, last in math, falls during running, and still ends up last.'
'But Lee Gyu-jae is an artist. He's won awards, he’s exhibited... Lee Gyu-jae is an artist.'

Through his art, Gyu-jae was discovering his sense of self-worth and fulfilling his desire to connect with others as a human being.
After graduating from high school, Gyu-jae embarked on his creative journey in earnest as a resident artist for the 12 th cohort of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Gyu-jae and Mom, Growing Together

Currently, Gyu-jae is active as an artist affiliated with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO). Recently, he achieved a small but joyful milestone in his career as an artist. He published a fairy tale poetry book titled “Circle Star,” which received a great response as a new attempt in creative arts. Inspired by Gyu-jae's artwork, poet Kang Ki-hwa created short poems for the book.

Gyu-jae's artistic activities couldn't be sustained after his parents' passing. Therefore, it seemed that what needed to precede his talent for drawing was the ability to independently shape his own daily life. Therefore, he started working as a part-time assistant librarian at a small library and joined bowling and badminton clubs at a cultural center. In fact, these community activities are supported by caregivers.
Nevertheless, thanks to the encouragement from those around him, he is discovering the preciousness and joy of everyday life together.