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I was invited to see the art exhibition by TERI’s developmentally disabled adults (affectionately called 'guys') in the Art Enables Program a few months ago; it reminded me of a challenging time working with them in 2007 - and of how instinctive it is to work with them. I could notice when I was present with them 100% and when I was instead distracted with other thoughts, at times tuning out or discouraged by how difficult it was to motivate and engage them, even when proposing something playful and easy.

One day something I could call 'intuitive miracle' occurred while I was working with one of the ‘guys’ whom I name here Clayton, to protect his privacy; it was a special moment of stopping and letting observation and intuition be my guide. Clayton is an adult with severe developmental disabilities, blind and deaf, and very spastic in his hand movements. What am I supposed to do here? How can I engage him? - I asked myself …then I noticed that Clayton was bringing each object he had in his hands to his nose and smelled it, and then he was somehow trying to somehow use it …so, I thought of trying something new: I got some aromatic scents (candle and soap scent at the craft store) and the next time I had a session with him, I filled a palette with a different color paint in each well and dropped a tiny amount of scent in each well, trying to associate each scent with a color ( brown=cinnamon; red=berry; yellow=vanilla; etc.), mostly to help me be consistent with the color/scent combination, when it came the time to refill the wells with paint.

Without hesitation, Clayton brought the tray to his nose, smelled each color and dipped his paint brush in each color, smelling and choosing the color he wanted…he kept on smelling and painting for a whole hour, without interruption; it wouldn't had stopped if it wasn't for keeping up with other scheduled sessions.

I brought in several sheets of smooth canvas ready to paint on, with the idea of mounting several paintings as scroll-type wall hangings in her room, but also to be displayed in the office when we have several completed. Mary completed 2 paintings very quickly, featuring recurring themes and for the first time, a church, quite dominant in the composition.

Her new mom complained that Mary drew and colored with markers in her sketchbook while in bed, so we agreed on some rules and guidelines about when and where to use the sketchbook; Mary accepted and said she promised to use it accordingly.

Mary's interactions with her new family are quite positive; the whole family is very supportive.

We moved to the adjacent room to do yoga; we went over the same routine and also some breathing exercises – in general, Mary tends to hold her breath while doing the exercises and tries really hard to get into each pose.

While she finished this first drawing she looked at me with a very tensed expression, and said she was seeing ‘things’, people…dead people. I acknowledged what she was saying and invited her to draw what she saw, just as she was seeing it. Mary proceeded to draw a face with simple, features, stick- like body, tense grin and then I suggested to use colors when Mary mentioned blood. Mary took a red oil pastel and drew a face with blood coming out of her mouth.

Mary said it was her grandmother, who passed away. One hypothesis is that Mary could also have been referring to grandma Rose at the house where she was staying previously, since she was ill.

Then Mary proceeded with other paintings, playing with materials and things she likes: apple, tree, fireworks. She asked again about her art show and I encouraged her to keep painting to build her body of work.

Mary asked to work with clay and made 3 objects, asked for help, accepted input and then proceeded by herself. She worked quickly and didn’t want to spend much time on these.

Mary asked me to tell Joey about the fact that she ‘sees dead people’ and she thinks it’s due to the medications that she takes. I reassured that I would.

Mary was eager to do some yoga; she’s improving and willingly following instructions. She does hold her breath when the stretch is a bit challenging, and I need to keep reminding her to breathe in and out to ease the pose. She likes the names of the poses which help her remembering some of them.

When Mary's host mentor came back for Mary, we were reviewing her paintings and taking pictures – Mary enjoys having her pictures taken with her work; it’s a source of pride and satisfaction.

I did share about Mary's visions as per her request, and I followed up asking her I did share about Mary's visions and I asked her if she felt better after drawing what she saw. She said yes, nodding. I gave her a new sketchbook and encouraged her to draw what she sees, to help her feel less upset about it. She showed much appreciation.

Mary seems doing better with the new adjustments to her medication, according to her host mentor. When Mary came in, I noticed she had gained quite a bit of weight. I was expecting Mary complaining about it – especially since she’s been concerned about having fat on her belly and wanting to address it – and seeking suggestions on how to lose her excess weight, but there was no mention the whole time we spent together.

Mary took a bit of time deciding what to do. Her step-sister Michelle was on her mind, since she’s been having serious challenges. She made a card for her. She spent quite a bit of time on it, showing to be very sensitive and caring.

I suggested drawing or painting something she had seen in the past few days and she went right to it, drawing a sunflower. Mary didn’t mention having any upsetting vision, like previously experienced.

Then Mary started thinking and talking about moving to her own apartment. She had questions

about what she might need, like clothes and household items. I suggested to start drawing from

her own imagination, what the apartment looks like and ‘to go’ inside the apartment.

She quickly changed subject, possibly because of her difficulty with envisioning what her apartment would look like, or seeing herself in an unknown environment, or even just feeling overwhelmed.

She then asked me about her art show. She’s eager to see her paintings on the walls and to have people over. We need to work on it.

I suggested creating several more paintings, and that it will take a few months before having enough of them to have a show. So Mary asked for a canvas and paint; she started talking about going to Las Vegas with her family for a weekend. Evidently she was wondering what Las Vegas look like and we talked about the mountains in the background and the desert with the strip of hotels/casinos right in the middle and lots of lights. We painted side by side, so she could follow my prompts. We took the longest time on this painting.

Then again Mary asked about what to paint for the art show and went to her familiar tree, grass, sunshine and rainbow – even though I suggested some variation in painting the grass, she wasn’t interested. Since there was a lot of room on the upper right portion of her painting, I asked what else she might want to paint in that area and somewhat reluctantly she barely included some clouds

Mary asked to do some yoga and we went over a routine of breathing and stretching poses. Mary felt better able to stretch her legs and her back with some of the poses. She’s is puzzled ever time her shoulders or back ‘pops’, and she feels some release.

I plan to see Mary again Tuesday, Sept 15 for 1 ½ hour session. I have a couple of suggestions about how to exhibit Marys artwork and how to have a reception that would be rewarding and motivating for Mary, and inspiring for mentors and supporters.

Mary is learning to express events and feelings, to supplement her verbal communication and building on yoga practice.

A clear routine is definitely beneficial to Mary and contributes to her feeling of being cared for.

Individuals with special needs like Mary spend most of their lives trapped in a skewed relationship between their bodies, hearts and minds, limited in functionality and constantly having to cope with the struggle of their psychic upheavals, emotional conflicts, longings and physical limitations.

Building self-motivation presents challenges and needs to be linked to attainable goals that are related to the individual personal interests and their level of development/maturity; careful attention needs to be made not to create illusions or false expectations, but to encourage individuals like Mary to stretch their usual boundaries a little more each time, to create unusual colors, to use new techniques under gentle guidance, to combine different modalities. This helps them finding their unique style, their hidden voices and assist them in coping in difficult moments and in building confidence.

As such individual feels the empathic relationship with their mentors, they are always ready to act with empathy and little by little they feel more at peace within themselevs and they welcome more and more self-exploration with confidence and ease. Often new connections are made, a better understanding and improved behavior result from this process.

the very experience of relaxing, calming and prolonged focus during art making is an encouragement to devote more time and efforts in pursuing such activities.