Art Day


We never know for sure from week to week how many children we will have at our library’s summer reading program day. The number might be in the 70s, or the 80s, or even the 90s. Even the lower figure means a lot of kids in the library at one time. It’s a good problem to have. Fortunately the staff have done a good job of beating the bushes for volunteers to help us out.

The collaborative summer reading program theme this year (which libraries in most states share) is “Be Creative at the Library.” So naturally we decided to do an art program for one summer reading session. For the “tweens”—the group I work with each week—we had a local artist who has taught art workshops in the past. I’ve seen her teach children about that age. I knew the program would be in good hands.

We’ve done some work on our sign-in procedures, and were able to get everybody in place and get started pretty well on time. I introduced our teacher and then got out of the way and let her get to work. She had laid out tables for the kids (there were over 30 in that age group this time) with bowls of glue (ordinary school glue thinned with water so that it can be brushed; when dried it also makes a good transparent sealant), brushes, pieces of cardstock, colored tissue paper, colored construction paper, some buttons, newspaper, and maps torn out of an old road atlas. The basic idea was to tear off pieces of these elements and use them to make collages. The teacher warned the students that anybody who glued him/herself to the table would have to stay until next week.

So they went to work. The teacher, a couple of older volunteers, a staff member, and I circulated around the room, keeping an eye on things and making sure everybody had materials they needed. Soon the room was buzzing as only a room full of kids working with glue can buzz.

One boy needed attention. He had to go to the bathroom. It was right down the hall from the meeting room where we were. But he did not want to go by himself. Nor did that seem a good idea. I had already learned in earlier sessions that there was something—“different”—about him. Since I have not yet had a chance to speak to any of his parents I don’t know any details, but he shows strong signs of having an autism spectrum disorder.

At the Men’s Room door he said that he did not want to go in by himself. I explained that I could not go in with him. I assured him that I would be waiting right outside. He went in, a bit reluctantly. I listened to make sure there were no disturbing sounds coming out of the room. After a few minutes I heard a flush, and he emerged. We returned to the meeting room.

Back in the room, the collages were taking shape. As I circulated and looked at them, I got the impression of getting potential insights into the children’s personalities by seeing what they did. Some made minimal-looking efforts or copied from somebody else nearby. Others threw down stuff all over the cardstock in what might be called an expressionistic fashion. Some carefully laid out borders around the edge, or made regular rows of material. One had a pattern of different colored bits of material reminiscent of a late Matisse collage. Another arranged his different colored elements in such a way as to create a recognizable landscape, with ground, sky, sun, and a tree.

And then there was the autistic boy. He showed little interest in the project. Instead he sat absorbed in a section of highway map. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. At one point he asked me where I was going for summer vacation. Clearly he had the idea that maps represent actual places, and was fascinated by that.

At that moment I felt I could understand a little bit of what might be going on in his mind. I was very introverted as a child—so much so that I suspect I might well have been diagnosed as having Asperger’s today. I would get fascinated by things too, and forget about the busy world of people around me and drop out of whatever activity I was supposed to be doing. And sometimes what fascinated me was a map, and the idea of what a map represented, and what you could do with that idea.

Every few minutes I stepped out of the room to see how things were going elsewhere in the building. Everything looked okay at Circulation. The younger children—of which there were about fifty—were keeping as quiet and ordered as that many can in one place.

From the Story Time Room I heard a volunteer reading to the children in there. She was someone I knew. I paused and listened for a bit. She had a very good story reading voice.

During my trips out of the meeting room I had to keep up with bits of ongoing library business. I returned a call from our carpet cleaning service about rescheduling the cleaning of the meeting room floor. And I answered a question that a patron had called in the day before, which I had had to e-mail somebody else to answer. Then I headed back into the art class.

Near the end of the session I called for everybody’s attention and did my book talk portion. I always try to have books from our collection on hand that have to do with whatever our speaker for the day is dealing with. I had a couple of books on drawing (we had better ones, but they were checked out), a book on painting, a book on paper crafts, and one on art appreciation. I kept the book talking very brief, briefer perhaps than I should have. I’m afraid I’m not that good of a book talker.

Then we held the drawing for door prizes. We awarded two posters (I made the selections as I heard the names called, so that the race car poster went to a boy who liked it and the “High School Musical” poster went to a girl who liked that one) and two passes for the local municipal pool. The autistic boy won one of them. He did not seem too excited by it.

The art teacher had observed what did interest him. At the end of the session she gave him a whole two-page spread from the remains of her road atlas. This gave him lots more map to look at.

After everything was said and done we had the cleanup. They had done quite well, all things considered, in keeping the mess to a minimum. We threw the big sheets of butcher paper that had protected the tables into the trash, along with unused (and now unusable) collage materials. The remaining glue went back into the bottles. The artist left the glue with us for future projects. As she cleaned out her brushes we had a nice talk about art and art therapy (she would like a chance to do that some time). I thanked her profusely for her help.

As we were cleaning up, we found a pool pass lying forgotten on the floor. We knew which of the two recipients must have dropped it. It was too late to return it. He had gone home. Somehow I don’t think he probably missed it, though.

Cool. My local cartoonist society is doing weekend workshops at our libraries this Summer. It was supposed to be sequential storytelling for teens, but they've been letting young kids sign-up as well. We just let the tiny ones draw their favorite characters.

Unfortunately, your interactions with the boy sound very familiar to me; very much like some of my experiences with my autistic son I hope his parents and teachers are addressing his needs. Do you know if your local school system is prepared to work with kids that have autism?

No, I really don't know what they are doing. I know there has been an explosion in special needs diagnoses of all kinds in recent years, and our area is no exception.

Must be great to have the talent on hand to do something like that.

If you want any help in how to communicate with him, let me know. It sounds like you're doing well already, though!

The Indian Trail Library in NC had a Mini-Comicon for their summer reading program launch. It was a lot of fun. I'm also going to have a worksop in Concord, NC in July.

I'd be interested to hear what sorts of suggestions you have. Whenever I meet a child like that I just try to gently encourage him to stay on-topic with whatever is going on. It's more or less what I remember my parents and teachers doing when I had an episode like that. There was one boy in Sunday school a few years ago who seemed to like having me play with him. I sometimes spent half the session playing with him in the play area while everybody else was having class. It kept him content.

Maybe we'll try that for a session some day. I have booktalked graphic novels before. Chuck Dixon's "Vanishers" (of which he kindly sent us a copy) was a success.

If he does have autism or Asperger's, then it's important to interact with him as much as you can so that he doesn't retreat into his own world. In my experience, autistics are usually very intelligent, but need to be stimulated visually in order to learn. Does he talk much, or interact with his peers at all?

I've noticed little interaction. On a couple of occasions he started talking to the guest speaker and it proved difficult to get him to let the speaker get back on topic.

That sounds typical. My son often did the same thing when he was small. Still does, on occasion!

It's often difficult for an autistic child to follow direction or discussion that is just verbal. There's usually no visual component for them to connect with. When they do hear something that interests them and they speak up, they get fixated on it and find it difficult to move on.

If you can, find out if he likes any activities like drawing, doing mazes, or coloring. If he does, keep activity sheets and crayons on hand for him. And when you talk to him, try to draw him out with questions. Interaction doesn't come naturally for him, but he can learn it from patient adults. Then interaction with other kids may eventually come easier to him.

I'll bear all that in mind. Thanks, Kevin!