INSIDE
Off to Cape Town, South Africa

By Pat Grubb

Kitty Doyle, known for her watercolors of great blue herons and other depictions of Point Roberts, will soon have larger animals to portray. Animals such as lions, elephants, giraffes and more. That’s if she has any free time, that is.

Co-owner with husband Paul of the Blue Heron Gallery on Gulf Road, Doyle is headed to Cape Town, South Africa in October to make a presentation at the World Congress of Autism. Along with colleague JoAnne Seip, Doyle will be discussing the functional skill curriculum they have developed for autistic students in British Columbia.

Autism is a developmental disability that usually evidences itself within the first three years of an individual’s life. It is a neurological disorder that affects a child’s development in social interaction and communication skills. It is considered a spectrum disorder and affects individuals differently and to a greater or lesser degree.

It is also a growing problem. Doyle said when she first became involved with autistic children in 1975; it affected one in 10,000 children. According to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, in 2004 it was present in one out every 166 births. The Autism Society of America suggests that autism is growing from 10-17 percent each year, based on data from the U.S. Department of Education and other government sources.

The cause of autism is not known though genetics appears to play some role. Doyle attributes the growing incidence in part to the fact “that we’re better at recognizing it” but theorizes there is something in our environment that is having a causative effect. “I’m going to be really interested to talk to people from Asia to hear about their rates,” she said.
Doyle says some of the children require training in such functional skills as being able to identify which buildings are the stores in a community, how to recognize safety signs such as those used to identify poison, how to identify foods by comparing the real thing in a store to a picture and more. Her work has also involved getting the kids involved in recreational activities such as swimming, skating and hiking. Generally, the kids avoid exercising so Doyle seeks out activities that they can do on a life-long basis.

“Some of the boys do rock climbing,” Doyle said. “They’re really strong visual learners and the rock grips fall into that visual realm.” The passion that Doyle feels for the kids and the subject is obvious. “They are a fascinating group of kids to work with. They used to call them refrigerator people because it was felt their mothers had withheld love and affection. Now we know that’s not true and they all have really interesting personalities.”

It won’t all be work, though. While the Congress goes from October 28 to November 2, Doyle and Seip have lined up some interesting tours to go on. They have booked a tour of the wine country, a safari and another tour that will take them along South Africa’s famed Garden Route. So if paintings of lions and giraffes start showing up at the Blue Heron Gallery, don’t think there has been a sudden influx of exotic animals into the Point. It’s merely that artist and educator Kitty Doyle has flown to an exotic locale.