Supporting Autistic Flourishing at Home and Beyond - Jon Adams' Illustrations

Jon is both a contemporary Artist, advocate and researcher. He makes a variety of work in many differing media often referencing his autism, synaesthesia and dyslexia, all interwoven with history, science, time and his past experiences. He's shown in galleries such as Royal Academy, Tate Modern and been commissioned by many arts and science organisations including projects for Parliament, London 2012 and on stage. He advocates for the rights of Neurodivergent people to fully access the arts, funding, health care and relevant research.

Below are illustrations commissioned for, and inspired by, the paper - Supporting autistic flourishing at home and beyond: Considering and meeting the sensory needs of autistic people in housing.

Activities

"Predictability is a huge part, but it’s not everything – things can be predictably awful." Damian

Lighting

"Fluorescent lights make me stutter. Flickering Christmas lights are a complete nightmare. I turn off lights in the evening and light candles. Instead of a central light I put on one or two lamps that I can adjust the shading of – and I can make sure they’re not in my eyeline." Cos

Collections

"I have a fairly large collection of model railways. I have a display case in my bedroom. It’s important for me to have space for them. Some people would say it’s busy, but it works for me." Karl

Eating Alone Together

"Personally, it seems the effect of noise particularly and also light on my wellbeing is underestimated." James

Living Alone

"Sensory wise shared accommodation made such a huge negative impact on my mental and physical health." Carly

Headphones

"The timer on the cooker is triggering. It’s not just annoying. It climbs into your soul and pulls it out." Emma

Blueberries

"Choice and control over what to eat is important. Fresh fruit and vegetables can be really hard – there’s so much variation so it’s difficult to know what something is going to taste like. It can be helpful to explore the variety of ways to get nutrients in. Smoothies can be good." Marion

Crackers

"I need to be able to eat away from other people. This isn't all the time, but if they're eating smelly food, or making loud noises, or eating with their mouth open, it makes me feel quite ill." Cos