Helping Autism/Asperger’s (Aug 2008)

Amory, a child with autism, experiences Sicily for the first time

Hands-On Sicily founder Sally Veillette played a hunch. She invited a college professor from southern California, who has a child with autism, to come visit. Sally wanted to see how this youngster, age 11, would react to Sicily. Her bet was that, due to its emotional richness (and Sicily’s comfort with an increased range of emotion, in general), the child’s experience would be a particularly good one. She was right.

Amory with his mother

“For me, it was great to see Amory enjoy food in a different way than he had before—finishing his very first full plate of pasta!” exclaimed his mother.

Amy and her son stayed in Hands-On Sicily’s beach apartment (that belonged to Sally’s grandfather). Young Amory ate his first full plate of pasta. He seemed remarkably at ease, in general. The Hanson family has returned again—and again—for a taste of Sicily. The emotionally rich nature of the island itself seems to have a special effect on its guests—including this young child.

One Hands-On Sicily guest described the emotional richness of Sicily in this way: “It may be hard for anyone who hasn’t been there to fathom, but every time I go to Sicily I feel more grounded, more in my body, and more like a woman than ever. I get off that plane, and BAM! The feeling’s back. Maybe it’s just me, but I simply can’t get that feeling on American soil.”