I find myself struggling to find people to highlight for Autism Awareness Month. Obviously, not because they don’t exist, but people living on the spectrum don’t really get interviewed or articles written about them. It comes down to what they write about themselves. Yet, people with autism are drawing cities they flew over once in a helicopter, playing Division I basketball, racing in Nascar and hosting podcasts. I think the world tends to focus on what is understandable versus what may require a little more energy and effort. I had to put some effort into finding articles about Ikea Juanita “Syance” Wilson, but it was worth it.
Ikea Juanita “Syance (because she loves science) Wilson is a young black woman who draws, plays the piano and was an A student in high school. The articles I managed to find about her are actually pretty old, from 2015. The one I did find was written by Ms. Wilson herself. She didn’t realize she could draw until she was thirteen years old and used drawing as a way to deal with bullying. Ms. Wilson is a self taught piano/keyboard player who sometimes composes her own music. She wrote that when she hears a song she sees colors and patterns that represents the pitch and the rhythm. How neat is that!
In the article, Ms. Wilson describes herself as an artist who has Autism. Yet, she was not aware of her Autism until her mother told her. Hell, with all of the amazing things Ms. Wilson was accomplishing at such a young age, why would she think she had Autism? Going from being in special day classes to attending some classes with advanced placement, Ms. Wilson did not let her diagnosis become the focus. As before, I will allow you to read Ms. Wilson’s story in her own words.
The most up-to-date information I found on Ms. Wilson is that she graduated from California State University, Bakersfield and was attending Inclusion Films at Bakersfield. Also, she appeared in Normal People Scare Me Too, a documentary about people living with Autism directed by an individual with Autism. It would be great to get an update of what Ms. Wilson is doing now. I guess the only way we will get it, is if she writes it.
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