I always hoped to get my brother Mike’s attention. Mike was autistic, low functioning and nonverbal; his attention was devoted to meeting his own needs. Now and then, I would see his eye looking at me. It seemed that Mike’s attention to others was the same as a lighthouse beam: paying brief attention to a point and then moving on.

I painted this abstract portrait of Mike and me in 2015. High quality prints of this watercolor are available at my Etsy Shop (AutismInspiredArt).