Here’s a fun, lighthearted article exploring the words “artistic” and “autistic.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t obsessed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
It’s not uncommon for newly diagnosed autistic people to develop a hyperfixation with autism.
This new special interest could take hold in a variety of ways, such as very frequently thinking about some aspect of ASD throughout the day – every day – as in my case.
One of the things I get a kick out of is how whatever English language rules apply to the word artistic also apply to autistic.
• A person can be an artist. They can also be an autist.
• There is artistry. And then there is autistry. So if I take a statement literally, this can be described as not just having an autistic moment, but a moment of autistry.
• If there is autism, then certainly there is artism.
• If one can be artsy, can an autistic individual also be autsy?
• If there can be art, then there can be aut.
• An artist can be an artisan, and an autist is an autisan.
• We have artful and artfully, and so thus, we can have autful and autfully.
• Let’s not forget artistically and autistically.
I studied art in college. I began drawing at around age five – and vividly remember the very first day I did this.
The family had visited an amusement park where my sister had her profile sketched.
I saw the sketch lying around and thought to myself, “I can do that.” I then drew my very first profile, copying the sketch. I was hooked! See below!
I drew this at age six. I never had a stick figure phase. Note the detail of that tree! Is the detail driven by artistry? Or autistry? ©Lorra Garrick
Growing up, I heard artistic being referred to me from time to time. I also heard, much more often, that I was going to be an artist when I grew up.
Everyone in my grade knew I could draw, throughout grade school, junior high and high.
I was always “doodling” in the margins of my notebooks while teachers were lecturing.
Some might say that this was a form of autistic stimming, but I can easily imagine that neurotypical young artists will be just as likely to do this, especially if the teacher is boring.
Once I graduated college, I lost my passion for creating artwork.
Since my autism diagnosis in spring of 2022, I’ve been creating autwork: writing content about my autistic experiences and also the experiences of other Autists.
But I still consider myself an artist – an artistic Autistic.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical and fitness topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer. In 2022 she received a diagnosis of Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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