Autism Spectrum, Creativity and Emotions: A New Point of View Through Camila Falchi's Work

The book, “Autism Spectrum, Creativity and Emotions”, gives a basic and broad but innovative view of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). It seeks to rupture stereotypes and stigmas about ASDs and is the result of a singular collaboration by an artist on the spectrum (Camila Falchi), a neuroscientist (Edward Ziff), and a neurologist and psychiatrist (Elisabete Castelon Konkiewitz) with practical experience in the field. The collaboration provided an opportunity to offer different perspectives on autism, combined in a single work: the perspective of artistic and creative achievement; the scientific perspective; the therapeutic perspective; and the social perspective.

The book proposes that the concepts and means of evaluation of intelligence and creativity within the spectrum be revised, to reveal how these potentials of the autism group have been underestimated for decades. The book tells through images, the story of the artist, Camila Falchi, who has an ASD. The book presents over thirty of Camila’s paintings and their exuberance is evidence of the complexity of her internal world and its variety of themes, intensity of feelings, daydreaming, fantasy and dreams. This complexity is precisely what compels us to question and rethink our perceptions of the autism spectrum, the mind, and creativity.

Thus, this is a book about art, the art of painting. It is about savoring beauty, feeling sensory joy and taking visual delight. The reader should skim this book freely, without method or rules, and simply enjoy the unpretentious beauty of the pictures. We place Camila Falchi’s art work into a greater perspective and relate it to what we have learned about autism and their possibilities of being integrated into and valued by our educational system and society.

This is also a book about the brain, about neuroscience and cognition. Our goal is to disseminate knowledge on autism, its characteristics and potentials, by means of the example of this artist. The book provides updated information on prevalence, manifestation, and diagnosis of ASD. It presents new cognitive models, psychological and imaging studies of the social, perceptual, emotional and attentional aspects of autism. It discusses the genetic basis of autism. Further, art therapy and music therapy are highlighted as promising possibilities for complementing therapies based on behavior adaptation and modification.

In the United States, it is estimated that one out of every 68 children has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which represents a challenge for the families, the educational system and the whole society. This book is a contribution to understanding what this disorder is about and to opening new windows of promotion and integration of people with ASD.

The book is unique as it serves a very large community and is intended for the academic and the general reader. It provides updated theoretical neurobiological, neurodevelopmental, and psychological information concerning autism in an accessible style and at the same time it presents very practical topics related to the inclusion and socialization of autistic people. Furthermore, through the book’s beautiful reproductions of Camila’s paintings, it is esthetically appealing and of interest to art lovers.

Elisabete Castelon Konkiewitz received a medical degree from UNIFESP (São Paulo Federal University) in 1993 and a doctorate in Neurology from the German university Technische Universität München, in 2002. She received the title of specialist in Neurology from the Brazilian Academy of Neurology and the title of specialist in Psychiatry from the Brazilian Association of Psychiatry. Since 2008, she has been an associate professor at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) in Central West Brazil, where she lectures on neurology, psychiatry and neurobiology and supervises public clinics for Parkinson’s disease and for people living with HIV infection. She attends patients with neurologic and psychiatric diseases at her medical practice in Dourados. She has written books and scientific articles in the areas of neuroscience, learning and education, including her book together with Angela Virgolim, “Altas Habilidades/Superdotação, Inteligência e Criatividade – Uma Visão Multidisciplinar”, which was awarded the prestigious Brazilian Jabuti Prize in 2015 for a book on Education. Dr. Castelon Konkiewitz is a member of UFGD the Health Sciences postgraduate program, researching effects of HIV infection on the brain. She writes about medical and scientific topics in her blog, Neurociências em Debate, and has recorded videos on diverse subjects related to Neurology and Psychiatry, presented on her channel in YouTube. Elisabete practices yoga, and has two sons, Marcelo and Lucas Maurício.

Edward Ziff received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Columbia University in 1963 and a PhD from Princeton University in Biochemistry in 1969. As a postdoctoral student with Nobel Prize winner, Fred Sanger, in Cambridge he conducted early genome sequencing studies. Ed served on the faculties of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London and Rockefeller University in New York. In 1982, he joined New York University School of Medicine, where he is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and Neural Science and was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  Ed researches brain function and neurological disease and was a Visiting Researcher at UFGD in Dourados. He lives in New York, has written for The New York Review of Books, coauthored a popular book on DNA, and is an amateur photographer, video maker, and painter.