Art Gallery: Digital Art by Rohith

 

Art Gallery: Digital Art by Rohith

Rohith is a 25-year-old non-verbal individual on the autism spectrum. He currently attends vocational training at the Amogh Centre and pursues illustration design training at Ishanya India.

His journey and art is shared by his mother:

Rohith was diagnosed with autism at the age of 1.5 years. In his early years, he was extremely hyperactive and struggled with making eye contact. As he was unable to express emotions verbally, he would resort to screaming when overwhelmed.

From early days, Rohith showed a lot of interest in drawing. Unlike most children, he preferred watching advertisements over television shows. He also likes to hoard soft drinks like Fanta and Coca-Cola—not to drink them though. He has a similar habit of collecting biscuits and sweets, preferring to keep them rather than eating it.

Over the years, with consistent speech and behavioural therapy, along with learning support at home, Rohith has shown great progress. Today, he exhibits good patience whether it’s reduced hand-flapping, improved eye contact, or less impulsive running around. His passion for art has played a significant role in calming and grounding him.

He now attempts to express his needs using single words and has developed a slightly better awareness of social behaviour in public spaces. He can sit through movies in theatres or focus on his artwork for hours. His ability to adapt and learn has improved greatly.

At Amogh, Rohith is involved in various vocational activities such as weaving, paper bag making, wall plate painting, paper beads making and typing. Even with intricate tasks such weaving and he has managed to learn these skills quickly. Under guidance, he also creates canvas paintings. At an art exhibition held at Forum rex Mall Bangalore, 9 of his paintings were sold which was a milestone for him and us too. His art works like greetings cards/ book marking have also been sold in the past.

To enhance his digital artistic skills, Rohith attends classes at Ishanya India on weekly basis. Despite difficulties in reading digital icons or menu options, he memorizes the shape and position of the tools, using them to create art. His progress over the years and his engagement in learning new tasks have brought us deep joy and lots of hope for the future.

His digital artwork is vibrant and draws the audience in. Find below some of his artwork.

The Print Able team visited Amogh, a non-profit charitable trust that aims to provide skill development programs for children and adults both special needs. The organization has several initiatives to nurture vocational skills and creativity of neurodivergent children and adults.