Sophist - art folks - is this a splinter skill?

[squaretail]

I've mentioned before that my girls seem to be able to draw well for their age (they're 4.5), and that the drawing seems to stand out against their numerous delays - a splinter skill, I guess you'd call it. I got a scanner and scanned in a couple of their drawings from the weekend. I know, they're not savants or anything, but they do seem to be able to make some cute pictures for their age. What do you think? Do you see any potential here, or are these pretty standard pictures for 4.5 year olds?

Teddy bears and a "Teddy Frog"
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o192 ... 001001.jpg

"Real" Turtles
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o192 ... 002001.jpg

I should mention that for every "cute" picture like these, there are about 20 that don't come out "right" and are discarded at various stages of completion.

Instead of taking their time and concentrating on making a single good drawing, they seem to draw as fast as they can, and just keep throwing out picture after picture until one comes out that seems "right" to them.

[Aspen]

I can't draw that well now, but they are really good artists, in my opinion.

[adhocisadirtyword]

My daughter is 8 and is one of the better artists in her class. Her artwork comes out just slightly better and more well proportioned than this. For 4.5, this is great, ST. I definitely think they have a splinter skill going on there.

If it were me, I would subtly encourage them in their artwork. It could really be a source of peace and relaxation for them when they are older, if not actually pay some bills.

[SomethingElse]

My artwork was really good when I was little (so much so that my grandad didn't believe that I'd drawn a picture when I was three, until my mum told him she'd watched me draw it). Unfortunately my attention span seems to have gotten smaller and smaller over the years and I rarely have the patience to draw anything and draw it well. Having said that my style is fairly abstract now, to compensate for how I can't be bothered to draw what I can see, so whether people like it becomes down to taste completely.

[goddessoflubbock]

It's great that you saw it so soon - they'll have plenty of time to nurture their skills throughout the school years. I personally can barely manage a stick figure so I'm impressed, needless to say!

We had a similar experience with DS - he'd never been interested in playing music but signed up for band this year - and got assigned the tuba (likely because he's so big and many of the families here are very small). Within weeks it was clear he was musically inclined and he's been first chair in the "real" band as opposed to the "beginner" band he was first assigned to for months now. He learned to read music in very short order - less than a day or two. Yet he was 11 before he learned to tie shoes.

Encourage them. It's certainly a fun and beneficial talent.

[Sophist]

Art is supposedly the second most common autie splinter skill/talent, after music.

Your girls definitely seem to have something there. Artists in the making I'd say. Excellent drawing for 4 yos.

[Sophist]

Encourage them. It's certainly a fun and beneficial talent.

I agree, definitely. Although, make sure not to be overbearing. It needs to remain something they want to do. Nothing ruins enjoyment faster than being forced to do something.

[squaretail]

Thanks - no need to overbear with them - they seem to draw almost compulsively. They'll easily go through 20-30 pages of paper in a sitting. This is partially because, like I mentioned before, instead of taking their time and really trying to 'get it right' with each drawing, they just really hammer out the drawings as fast as they can, and as soon as they make a mistake, they grab a clean sheet (rather than trying to correct the mistake)!

They hardly ever get to the 'coloring' phase, becuse most (90% or so) drawings end up on the cutting room floor prior to completion Even the 'stuffed animals' picture was a discard, but I saw it and thought it too cute to throw away (I think she animal at the bottom with the tiny body was a mistake in Evie's eyes - I'm not sure why she drew it that way).

I buy stacks of paper pads from the dollar store every couple of weeks and we have a bucket full of broken crayons and colored pencils.

[goddessoflubbock]

I buy stacks of paper pads from the dollar store every couple of weeks and we have a bucket full of broken crayons and colored pencils.

You should check with local businesses for paper. Law firms, copier stores, state agencies - when the letterhead changes, out goes boxes and boxes of perfectly good paper. If your girls don't mind drawing on the back where the writing doesn't show, it will save you a small fortune

My daughter likes to draw (although nothing like your girls) and when we got a new boss, I got a box of paper which we still haven't come close to going through.

(copier stores often have lots of cool stuff, mistakes people made and had to pay for then threw away).

[Blandit]

I can tell you with confidence that those drawings are way better than most 4 1/2 year olds! Very good and creative. The first one with the Teddy Bear and Frog is unique with its squiggle outline (to resemble fur, I think). That is terrific!

My AS son did not color unless I was holding the crayon in his hand and scribbling on paper for him; which I did when he was little, hoping he would do it on his own. He did, for about two seconds and then he would slip out of the chair and be on his way!. When he was about 8 1/2 he started doing some coloring by making a simple, large grid with a pen, then coloring in each box a different color with crayons, which he pressed very hard. He said it was to achieve a darker shade and richer color. When he was 9, he was given a spirograph and for a couple of years he made many elaborate pictures with it. He would not make the designs in the intended way, but would take out all of the plastic pieces and trace the outside of them onto large poster-board sized paper. Then he would connect the circles with snake-like shapes and randomly draw rectangles and squares over all. Then he would color, not according to the larger, outlined shape, but would color in every little shape where larger ones overlapped. It was really something; totally modern art.

Once, he was in the process of coloring one of these huge creations with colored pencils (which had to be kept perfectly sharp at all times) when he suddenly stopped and left it on the coffee table for days. I asked him why he didn't finish it and he replied that he had lost his red pencil. I located one for him but he refused to use it because it wasn't exactly the same shade of red that he had started coloring with (he thought I was crazy for suggesting that!). He was going to throw the thing away! I saved it and weeks later, he found the pencil; under the couch! He finished it and I am going to have it framed and hung up in his room.
His art is very colorful with overlapping shapes, but always geometric. His interest comes and goes. His art teachers have been very pleased. Not a prodigy, but better than average.

[Persephone]

Those are good drawings for 4.5 year olds!

What's this about a splinter skill? I know nothing. My AS dd is VERY good at music. She says she has brains in her fingers. Basically can just play anything on the clarinet or recorder that she has music for. First chair with no practice, etc.

[Sophist]

Those are good drawings for 4.5 year olds!

What's this about a splinter skill? I know nothing. My AS dd is VERY good at music. She says she has brains in her fingers. Basically can just play anything on the clarinet or recorder that she has music for. First chair with no practice, etc.

It's basically savant skills which happen a lot with ASDs, but there's varying levels.

Art, music, math, memory, writing, language acquisition, spatial skills... these tend to be the most common skills seen in ASDs, but definitely not limited to that.

[goddessoflubbock]

Those are good drawings for 4.5 year olds!

What's this about a splinter skill? I know nothing. My AS dd is VERY good at music. She says she has brains in her fingers. Basically can just play anything on the clarinet or recorder that she has music for. First chair with no practice, etc.

She sounds like my son. He picked up the tuba last August for something different to do - never played a musical instrument in his life. He was first chair in weeks, and in a few months was asked to audition for a spot with the university (he is in 6th grade).

He learned to read music in less than half the time it took him to learn to tie his shoes. (and with much less angst!)

[SomethingElse]

I couldn't read music when I was first taught recorder when I was nine, but I can play recorder and the tin whistle by ear, anyway.

I can also play certain tunes on guitar by ear, although I'm not yet an accomplished enough player to really have any talent. I've decided that instead of just not bothering because it seems too complicated, everything I learn will eventually mean that the load doesn't seem as intimidating, and discussed this with my uncle. So I am going to start to learn guitar in earnest. Maybe it'll be easier now I'm not a frustrated drummer being forced to settle for guitar.

[Noctivagus]

You have vary talented ears, Benji

I tend to use my fingers when playing music