Autism, artism: for two Oklahomans, it's the same thing

Then he erupts into motion. Bending over a sheet of poster board, he lets loose a blast of spray paint, then another and another. He grabs some paper torn from the yellow pages and fixes it in place near the base of his canvas.

His thin arms move constantly, reaching behind him for paint cans or to the side for a knife. The only sound is the hissing of spray cans and the tinny pulse of music from the iPhone in his pants pocket.

He plops a paint can upside down onto the image. A microsecond of pressure — Phssst! — and a comet is born. He peels back the yellow pages, and a pyramid appears; removes a wooden disk, and a vast moon is revealed. A few more blasts of paint, and he's done.

Just like that — in the space of perhaps 10 minutes — Aycox, 15, of Ardmore, has turned a blank sheet of poster board into a stunning piece of art.

Once finished, he seems a little bashful, but that's to be expected.

Aycox has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that makes social interactions difficult. So does painter Amanda LaMunyon, 15, of Enid.

The two share more than a medical diagnosis. They've seen beyond the limitations of autism and embraced the advantages it gives them.

They're also the only Oklahomans featured in a new book, “Artism: The Art of Autism.”

When LaMunyon was a little girl, she was unable to adjust to school routines. She'd wander off or misbehave. She was smart — she could read by the time she started first grade — but other skills, such as using scissors, seemed beyond her.

Then she picked up a brush.

“It began with painting,” recalled her mother, Sherry LaMunyon, 61, “and painting changed Amanda's life.”

From the start, her paintings betrayed sophistication far beyond her years. One of her earliest works depicts four sunflowers, each rendered with expertise and beauty. She worked with a teacher to hone her skill, and when LaMunyon began second grade, the headmaster decided to hang her paintings in a hallway.

“Every week or so, Amanda would put up a new one,” her mother said. “Everyone, including myself, began to look at Amanda differently. She wasn't anymore that little girl who misbehaved in class and couldn't write well. She became the little girl who paints, and it gave her the confidence she needed to continue.”

It also awakened in her a love of the arts. She sings, acts, sews and is teaching herself graphic arts.