Specialists Academy Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Maria and Me – written and illustrated by Miguel Gallardo – we are happy to announce our Specialists Academy Giveaway!
First, a little background. Barcelona based Miguel Gallardo is an illustrator and proud father of the delightful Maria Gallardo, who has autism. When Maria was younger Miguel would whisk her away from her mother, May, and grandpa Pepe, to go on holiday at a resort in the Canary Islands so they could spend some quality time together. Miguel first published the eye-opening and highly acclaimed Maria and Me in Spain 10 years ago, a gloriously-fun illustrated comic of one such holiday with Maria, detailing the day-to-day challenges that people with autism and their carers face, and how Miguel and Maria overcome them.
Miguel has done a lot of great work with The Orange Foundation in his native Spain, supporting autism awareness and the breaking down of barriers and stereotypes to foster greater inclusion. One such project of Miguel’s is a short animated film called the Specialists Academy, which showcases the special talents that children with autism have, and which are not always understood when seen from the outside. The video attempts to give people a better awareness about autism in society, in an easy-going and fun way. Luckily, The Orange Foundation made a version with English subtitles so we can enjoy the fantastic animation too; watch it below.
The Specialists Academy is the theme for the Maria and Me giveaway
Like the examples in the video above, we would love to hear about your special talents. Submit your own specialism to us – or submit on behalf of someone with autism you know, along with your connection to the specialist – describing the specialism in just a few sentences, and award-winning illustrator Miguel Gallardo will turn his favourite into a comic strip! The winner, as well as two runners up, will also receive a copy of Maria and Me. Send in your submission as a comment underneath this blog post (along with your email address so we can contact you if you have won), or as a comment on the Specialists Academy Giveaway announcement on Facebook. Submissions will close at 12pm on Tuesday, October 17th 2017. Good luck!
My daughter is 8 and has HF Aspergers. She also hears things very loudly. She knows it is because she is a super hero because her hearing is her super power. She is known as Audio Girl. She also knows she will be a great mother because she will hear her baby cry before anyone else, even at a great distance. She can hear music and languages in ways others can’t. She struggles with walking through noisy cities but she is courageous.
One day she feels sure it will save someone’s life but until then she just draws and draws and draws because she is also an amazing artist.