Autism Art Legacy: Empowering My Non-Verbal Autistic Son to Protect His "Bali Bubble" Existence

*A Mother’s Wish blog contains a treasure trove of insights. We have deliberately not created a paywall for our mission to share accurate insights about the inner lives of autistic individuals with everyone. But we would be most grateful for an SGD10 payment of love and support if you feel you have benefited and are in a position to help us continue our mission. A new digital photograph of Sebastien's artwork is available each time we upload a new post. Thank you!

Here is a glimpse of Sebastien's "Bali Bubble" existence, which makes him feel safe and joyful — recently, we have been introducing variety to his life by changing his skating routes through different villages... (stay tuned for other tweaks in subsequent posts...)

Sebastien, my non-verbal autistic son, skating on one of the many village roads within the vicinity of his home.

As a parent living away from Sebastien my non-verbal autistic son, I keep a pulse on his life from a distance through (1) daily videos of Sebastien's reactions to his activities and his environment; (2) 30-minute, thrice-a-week video calls; (3) weekly check-in calls with my lead carer; and (4) in-person visits with Sebastien.

Through this process, which we have set up and honed over time due to past experiences, we strive to achieve the delicate balance between stability and variety for Sebastien, who is constantly evolving, to find meaning, purpose, and excitement in his life.

This isn't always easy to do. With a non-verbal autistic adult, we often play catchup in interpreting Sebastien's evolving behaviours to understand how we can better adjust the aspects of his existence. I am deeply grateful that we finally have a group of carers who are invested in Sebastien's well-being and make the "Bali Bubble" existence worth fighting for!

While I have been sustaining the Bali Bubble over the past eight years, I truly believe that Sebastien, with his paintings, can contribute to maintaining his existence. This is why I believe in the Autism Art Legacy campaign and sincerely hope that I will find others who will support Sebastien too!