I think maybe it is a sweeping generalisation to say that all people on the autism spectrum can draw, but one autistic kid in my class surely reinforces the stereotype that autistic people are artistic people.

It all started when I barred the students from filling in the blanks with the most appropriate vocabulary work. Instead, I read aloud the comprehension cloze to them so that they could get the gist and express its key idea.

“You need to have a helicopter view!” I declared. I suck at drawing, but fortunately for them, my mind works fast like Lightning, so I called upon my autistic student to draw a helicopter.

He isn’t the kind to look up at the teacher during lessons, but this time round, he took the marker without fuss and sketched a helicopter within 2-3 minutes. He showcased his strengths: detail-oriented and amazing imagination.

Now that I knew he wasn’t adverse to drawing in public, I asked him to draw a subway platform. Such a boring item, I thought to myself. Would he be able to draw it?

Oh, I shouldn’t have doubted him. Granted that his platform comprised simple lines, it was impressive how he was able to transfer the mental image in his mind onto something concrete in the physical world.

This is the part when I should be reflective and say something like how I should brush up my drawing skills so as to be a more effective practitioner. But I am more curious about the other things he can draw oh-so-casually. I can also claim that I am fostering a knowledge-building classroom in which at least the autistic boy is an active contributor.