The other day, I received a slew of pictures from Josy, my autistic son Nat’s caregiver. The group home housemates had gone to visit a quarry to look at the graffiti and do an Earth Day cleanup. I smiled when I saw the one of Nat standing on a sloped wooded hill, next to a looming wall of gray rock, which was covered with graffiti, because he had an animated look on his face. Josie told me he really enjoyed the outing because he seemed fascinated by the letters, colors, and shapes. “Once we started walking, he noticed the graffiti on the floor and just kept looking,” she texted me.

Nat is not easily engaged by things other people find interesting, so this reaction was very special, and Josy, who knows him well, understood that. And when he is interested, it is so gratifying, especially when he shares it with you. Josy then told me, “We walked around the pathway to see rocks full of graffiti, and he stood there again looking at it and just following the paintings, and then out of nowhere he said ‘Josy picture.’ And he had a big smile, and I took it, and I showed him the picture, and he just smiled.”

Nat’s simple and direct way of communicating is what I live for. This is because he does not interact easily or often, and he only rarely........

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