I Draw YOU - @xtremeparnthood

Sunday Stilwell @xtremeparnthood hired me to redesign her Banshee and I loved every minute of it.

She's relaunched her blog Adventures in Extreme Parenthood and it looks gorgeous. Sunday's the frazzled mom of two autistic boys. In her own words the drawing "fully embodies how I feel most days chasing my boys around".

Gracious, smart and with a sense of humor. This woman is a pleasure to work with! It was easy to say YES to this job.

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Deeds & Magpie!

Little Deeds doesn't know it yet but he's getting an updated version of the Dog4Deeds drawing with Magpie on a t-shirt.

Don't know who Deeds is? He's a little boy with autism. And Magpie is his autism service dog - she keeps an eye on him. It was nearly a year ago that Caryn Haluska AKA @ihave7monsters recruited me to help Deeds' family. Back then, none of us knew what kind of dog would be found for Deeds, so I drew a Golden Retriever. Turns out Magpie is a pretty Black Lab!

I'm still so proud of what we achieved together. It was one of those special social media moments where so many folks came together to help someone. You know who you are.

Don't tell Deeds about the t-shirt!

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A Twibbon For APRIL.

Last night Tracy @Tracy4Autism piped up on Twitter wondering if I could design a Twibbon -  April is Autism Awareness Month (in the US that is. In Canada I believe it goes down in October, but no matter - the more awareness everywhere, the better). There are many passionate autism parents and advocates on Twitter and Tracy felt this could be a good way to help raise awareness.  I thought, what a freaking great idea!

Here's the design. It's a "complete" puzzle - no pieces are missing. It's also a "listening" person with two people talking on the left and the right. The middle piece is round and the others are square giving a kinda keyhole shape. Spreading awareness is key! Get it?

<-- This is what it looks like as a Twibbon. GO GET YOUR TWIBBON!! You can resize it with the slider, and drag it anywhere on your avatar. It's hashtagged #AustismAwarenessApril which should make it easier to find others wearing the Twibbon.

UPDATE: I noticed that many people are having trouble getting the twibbon to display properly on their pic. You must first LOG IN to Twibbon before clicking on the Show My Support button. Then you can resize it and move it around.

I recently donated my drawings to help lil' Deeds get his Autism Service Dog, and was touched by the specialness of the people involved - they are deeply caring and loving. Spend a little time on some of these family blogs, they have amazing stories which will move you and make you smile. Let them make you aware of autism.

I'm not an expert on the subject of autism, so I asked around for some links about Autism Awareness Month which are here and here. If you want to blog about this Twibbon please feel free to grab the image and link up.

Links and inspiration were kindly provided by:

Once Upon An Autism blogger, Tracy @Tracy4Autism
Special Happens blogger, Gina @Special_Happens
Tam's Ramblings blogger, Tam @TMBMT
Kidlutions on Facebook, Wendy Young @Kidlutions
A Dog For Deeds blogger, Bobbie @dog4deeds
and Living with Logan blogger, Caryn @Ihave7monsters.
And a large number of groovy people on Twitter and Facebook who gave instant feedback on the design. Thank-you!

Now go get your Twibbon.

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A Boy, a Blog and a DOG. - #forDeeds

Sometimes life hands you an opportunity to help someone. When that happens, you should just do it. When Living with Logan blogger Caryn @ihave7monsters asked me to draw something for her friends Bobbie and Jeremy @Dog4Deeds, I said YES!!

This is their son, 3 year old Deeds. He has autism, and is on a quest to get an Autism Service Dog. Deeds is still healing from a serious burn by the way, that's why his little face is all pink.

Bobbie and Jeremy have set up DogforDeeds.com. These dogs are mind-blowingly amazing. They're specially trained to stay close to the child, nuzzle during repetitive behaviours, interrupt and calm meltdowns, and locate missing children with their incredible noses in the case that they should wander off. These are just a few of the realities of raising a child with autism. Little Deeds needs this dog.

I donated this drawing of Deeds and his Sock Monkey bonding with their dog. Picture drinking your coffee from a mug with this on it. Or on a cute toddler  t-shirt. Deed's parents set up a Zazzle shop just so you can!

The family is just under halfway to meeting their funding goal. The good news is that we can help! Go visit Caryn's Very Special Post For Deeds and check out the artwork and the PRIZES. There's a custom t-shirt, and I've donated a few of Little Animation's DVD's for kids. Don't miss this opportunity to help one little boy live a better, safer life.

"JC! What can I do to help out?"

Caryn's got badges and a Linky up so everyone can stay connected. You can blog a version of this post for Deeds, Tweet #forDeeds, Facebook and share this widely!!

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