My Next Big Thing: The Autists
Screen-grab from theautists.com
I have an autistic stepdaughter. She’s pretty high up on the function end of things, but has trouble comprehending certain forces of nature, and of humanity. Stuff like money, avarice, fairness, conversational nuance and so on. Like some people with autism, she’s been given a gift — the ability to draw with exceptional depth and imagination — that to most eyes is well beyond her 11 years, even for a non-autistic girl.
So one evening, watching her draw, having just discussed with her the passion she has to some day be a professional artist, I thought, “Great, but how will she make a deal?” I set to wondering about that one, and after a time an idea came.
Our logo proud and strong
The Autists is that idea in the process of being realized. Its simplest description is this: A concert/party/auction event that seeks to monetize the gifts, the marketable skills (art, number-crunching, engineering, supermemory, etc.) of those with autism who’d otherwise not have an easy time marketing those skills. It’s also a fundraiser for the Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto.
I called the Geneva Centre once I’d written out a draft of how it might unfold and spoke with Neil Walker who, on hearing barely a minute of my spiel, said, “Count us in.”
The rest is about to be history. Go to theautists.com for the story so far, and return with frequency to see how we’re making out. If you’re inclined, get involved, sponsor something, send us ideas, give us names of people who might be able to help out with cash, expertise, free champagne, etc. And if you’re here in town Sunday May 2, 2010, come to the party — it’s going to be unforgettable (perhaps unrememberable for those who really love a good bash).
Inside the reborn Royal Conservatory of Music, where rocked you shall be
I am mostly handling the creative — writing, design, advertising, promotion — while the admin and fundraising will be looked after mainly by the Geneva Centre’s charming and highly capable Ms Hindy Abelson. That’s not to say I won’t be banging on a few doors myself to extract a few (hundred) grand from the willing where I can.
Our schmoozing zone, outside the concert hall
So here’s to a successful event, and to a whole bunch of people with autism becoming enterprising people with autism.
