The Versatile Master Artist

The prevalence of autism is approximately two to five per thousand.

The World Health Organization estimates that globally there are about 15 million people with autism, barring a few lucky ones.

The vast majority of young patients are isolated from normal society for life.

Scientists have been exploring the causes and treatments of autism for over half a century, with sanatoriums and research institutes worldwide.

Unfortunately, like many mental diseases.

In today’s highly advanced scientific world, autism treatment plans still remain in the realm of trial and error.

Doctors can only roughly judge which treatment plans are effective or ineffective based on past case experiments.

The few developed drugs only play a supportive role.

Besides more scientific statistical methods, people no longer rely on priests to exorcise with holy water or insert a probe through the eye corner to mush your frontal lobe to create artificial dementia.

The methods of treating mental illness in the twenty-first century are fundamentally no different from those decades or even a hundred years ago.

”Some researchers actually believe that the new version of Little Prince can communicate with the patients’ inner world! Why?”

Sir Brown was extremely jealous.

He clearly knew that if this conjecture were true, it would be such a huge honor and attention.

It’s not necessarily a fantasy that illustrations can treat autism.

The most troublesome aspect of autism is that patients often have language, verbal, or social communication barriers.

At thirty, they still fear the outside world like a baby, only using very simple words to communicate with parents or close relatives.

There seems to be an invisible barrier separating autistic children from perceiving the external world, also blocking doctors from understanding them.

Even the most experienced psychologists need sufficient communication with patients when designing treatment plans.

But young autistic patients will not understand your words and obediently fill out any ”Self-Analysis Survey of Mental Issues” or ”ABC Behavioral Quantitative Analysis Table for Children with Autism.”

Non-verbal, non-literal forms of expression like illustrations become the best globally recognized bridge for patient communication with the outside world.

Illustrations require little to no verbal interaction and can open the door to communication.

Autism intervention classrooms worldwide are equipped with watercolor pens, oil pastels, and illustrated fairy tale books.

This has already become a conventional rule.

Some psychologists in related fields even learn certain professional painting knowledge.

Famous institutions like the Kennedy Treatment Center are equipped with an entire professional illustrator team for artistic intervention, yielding excellent results.

While being praised as the world’s best ”hat-off” (note) magical place for autistic children by the Kennedy Treatment Center, each treatment course often costs tens of thousands of US Dollars.

(Note: Significant behavioral improvement of autistic children, enabling integration into normal life. Among the patient family groups, this is called ”hat-off.”)

Several courses can easily cost over one million dollars, more expensive than treating cancer at private hospitals like Mayo or Anderson.

The key is it’s a bottomless pit.

The expensive cost is beyond typical commercial maternity insurance coverage bought by general white-collar elite families. Except for the world’s richest one in 100,000, no one can afford such an expense, so it has no universal promotional possibility.

Psychologists and intervention therapy experts worldwide are searching for illustrated works that better engage all patients’ hearts.

A subsidiary project of the World Health Organization once contacted ”Oil Painting” magazine.

With its tone, oil painting somewhat looks down on the illustration field.

In Sir Brown’s reply, he humorously suggested contacting Disney for such matters.

Just.

With so many painters in the world, why particularly Detective Cat!

”Lack of artistic value” is a handy big hat, suitable against Gods or Buddhas.

Even if your artwork is beautiful, I can accuse you of lacking artistic value.

If you sell expensively, I can accuse you of lacking artistic value.

Simply because I don’t like you, I can still accuse you of lacking artistic value.

Only two things in the world truly surpass art.

Power and soul.

The soil of art attaches itself to power, and its essence serves the soul.

In ancient times, both things were attached to the church, thus records show that a small regional priest could point fingers at Michelangelo’s sculptures if they didn’t suit his wishes, and even the art masters among the Three Masters of the Renaissance dared not retort.

Today, with Sir Brown’s current social status, he actually already has the qualification to despise power.

At the European Art Annual Conference, when he speaks, the Austrian national president and important officials of the European Union all standing and applauding together.

However.

When he heard that some medical teams believed Detective Cat’s artwork might reach into the deeply enclosed lonely hearts of autistic children, uneasiness still surged from the bottom of Sir Brown’s heart.

He leaned back into the chair, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.

How many years has it been...

Since the director took charge of the magazine, for the first time he suddenly feels—that the power to judge the value of artwork seems not entirely in his hands.

The antique-styled office is all quiet.

Only the heavy breathing of two men remained.