Autistic…Artistic…Sounds pretty close.

My father put this article in front of me this evening: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/nyregion/children-with-autism-connecting-via-bus-and-train.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=autism&st=cse

Oliver, left, and Ravi Greene, who are regular visitors to the New York Transit Museum.

There are three things about this article on the surface that are eye-catching to me:

1. I have a brother named Ravi
2. He has autism; and
3. He likes trains

I wonder how much of a coincidence this is. Now, if I dig deeper into the article, I am reminded of the sessions that I attended at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Saturday. Though I did not attend this particular discussion, I wonder if this museum has touched on a great idea.

One of the interesting things that I heard about at this event is the fear of some parents with small children that their little hands might touch something they aren’t supposed to. I also know that there are movies for mummies where they have an afternoon showing of a movie for mothers with small children without fear of babies crying and disturbing someone else.

So why not have a day for families that have people with disabilities? I know that sometimes, people with disabilities feel uncomfortable, but so do some of those around them. In a place like a gallery, many expect to have a quiet atmosphere, but some can’t control it, much like my brother who has Tourette’s Syndrome. Have one day a month or something similar where families can view the artwork without worrying about disturbing anyone else because everyone else is doing it too. This would not only set the minds of those with the disability at ease, but also those who care for them. Couldn’t hurt to have others around that might learn how to integrate those with disabilities into their lives as well. Just a thought…

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My Fun Saturday – The Teaser

It was definitely a busy day yesterday. On Friday I just chilled out knowing that it was certainly going to be a whirlwind on Saturday. And I was right! I got full use out of my metropass!

My day started out with a great event at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was intended to get feedback from the public about the Gallery. I’ll be posting more on it tomorrow, but you can certainly follow the discussion on Twitter by watching the hashtag #AGOChat. The photos from that event are posted here. I know that Rannie will certainly have wonderful photos posted from the event soon. As a thank you, we walked away with some pretty cool swag. Definitely setting the bar on that one!

My Andy on his first day out

After finishing at the AGO, I rushed over to the Liberty Noodle for the HTML5

Barbecue. This was done jointly with the Toronto Google Technology Users Group which I attended two weeks ago where I won my Andy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get there until it was almost finished, so I won’t have much on that except to say that it was a packed room and a great bunch of people. Even after the presentations were done, there were some great discussions and of course cool swag. 😉 You can follow the Yorkville Media Centre for more details on this, the #TOGTUG group and of course, AndroidTO coming up in October.

I’ve posted the photos from the Stella Artois Block Party here. Please feel free to tag at your leisure. This was another great event where I got to see some old friends and meet some new people that I might have seen on Twitter, but hadn’t had the chance to meet in person. Many thanks to @StellaArtoisCAN for throwing this great event. Follow the hashtag #BlockParty from last night to see some craziness.

I’ll be writing on these topics more in the coming days so stay tuned!