He was our 'Star'

Just a short double blog post discussing our current project KoCreate, Autistic creativity and the passing of our ‘blog image’ star Mr. Horace. You may wonder why all our blog posts illustrations involve cats. It may seem a bit of a stereotype that autistic people appear to like cats or dogs or every aspect of nature but to us here,​ cats are our stars. A few years ago I started an art project called ‘​C​at ​R​esearchers’ that satires the autism research world. It was both on social media (@CatResearchers on Twitter) and eventually turned into a performance work that was premiered and live-streamed at the Autism Arts Festival in Canterbury a few years ago. Through the use of ​metaphor of (our) cats,​ we satirically​ (and often literally​)​ highlighted the ways researchers and experts approach autism research both good and bad. I must apologise at this moment as I’m using irony​,​ sarcasm and metaphor in my artwork​-​ I will try to conform to the traditional views of autism at some point!​ When thinking about what animals bring to autistic people​, I​ think it goes deeper than a liking or brief encounter​. It​ provid​es autistic joy in a social world that’s often bleak towards us. I’ve always felt closer to the natural world than ​I ever have ​towards ​people and society. I find the natural world,​ plants,​ birds, and cats ‘honest and authentic’ in the ways we interact, and​ much more predictable than other people's intentions towards me. I think this also surfaces in many alongside our innate sense of justice in a real concern for the world about us and hence in many forms of eco-activism. When I first developed PTSD we got a cat as company and a focus for my recovery. When I say ​'​we​'​, he suddenly appeared home with my wife​,​ ​but ​I fell in love immediately. During the first week,​ he slipped through the banisters and fell. I​ saw it happen in slow motion and my heart leaped faster than me but when I got downstairs he was so light and so small he’d bounced on the carpet and was, luckily,​ fine. That day I bonded with Mr. Horace and he too with me.​ I always felt protective of him from then on. He was my companion. Unfortunately, during lockdown, he developed cancer, and despite an operation and nursing back to health, it returned and we reali​s​ed he needed us to let him go. The last few weeks have been devastating as the grief is exactly the same and as deep as the loss of each of my parents. From listening to other people over the last few weeks I know I’m not unique in this. It’s not about comparing or not being able to feel, nor my personification synaesthesia but about respecting life and friendship, maybe it’s a manifestation of the love and empathy researchers and experts claim we're immune from and lack. Maybe the same effect we derive from tending an overgrown garden. Growing things and attracting the sparrows into my garden has helped my mental health immeasurably​y​, saving me from some of the worst lows PTSD from abuse can bring. In the same way, my creativity has supported me. We speak to a lot of Neurodivergent artists and invariably the phrase ‘compelled to make​'​, appears in the conversation. I believe one of the barriers and something that can drag our mental health down is a lack of outlet or purpose for this creativity, it’s not something we can switch off. Creating in isolation can be beneficial but when shared or appreciated in the company of others it can add a ‘completeness’ and purpose to our lives. This helps us belong​-​ and belonging is key. It’s why much of my work has been socially engaged and encouraging others to join in overtly,​ and sometimes subversively,​ too. Ever since we set up​ Flow,​ we’ve wanted to provide creative opportunities but this has been limited by funding and unfortunately my own mental health. We were organising art workshops, a music group, a model-making group, a theatre group, and a general arts group but ​C​ovid19’s appearance knocked it all on the head. It’s often peer​-​support and purpose that maintains us when no one else can be bothered to provide appropriate help as adults. Recently we applied for a pot of money to provide creativity sessions (​this became ​KoCreate) for autistic people in Portsmouth to be delivered through​ a social prescribing project. I was uncomfortable at first because I know from personal experiences I shy away from engaging with any ‘health service’ opportunities so my caveat was we also find funding to run extra sessions for those who come to us directly. Well, we’ve​ now started and hope to take these sessions forward on a permanent basis as autistic people are all too used to being given ‘limited sessions​'​ then dropped which does nothing for our mental health. Research has shown the value of autistic-led initiatives and that they need to be continuous not time-limited. This is what we will be aiming for alongside a radio spot towards our aim of making Portsmouth a city of Sanctuary for all autistic people. Jon Adams Please find below the KoCreate details. (If you have difficulty opening the images via your phone or iPad, try double clicking)