Led Bradshaw’s son, Jake, was diagnosed with autism at three years old. As a professional comic book artist, Bradshaw used art therapy for Jake, which ended up being a very successful learning tool.
Using art as a learning tool eventually inspired Bradshaw to create a comic book series called “The Adventures of Jake Jetpulse.”
When Jake was in second grade, his dad met with his teacher and learned that Jake was having trouble remembering certain things like sight words and spellings.
Bradshaw used the list of sight words to create flashcards to help him learn and remember each word. With each word, he drew pictures of a superhero, acting out each word or activity.
For example, for the word “run,” it would show the superhero running fast.
From then on, Jake fell in love with comics just like his father and loved drawing himself as a character.
Their flashcard superheroes soon evolved into their idea for the “Jake Jetpulse” comic series, which keeps the theme of superheroes doing educational activities.
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While Bradshaw creates the comics, Jake is right by his side to tell him what he likes or doesn’t like about it, what he wants to change, or any new ideas that he comes up with.
Thanks to the comics, Jake’s vocabulary started to expand, which gave him a lot more confidence.
Bradshaw hopes their comic series will not only raise awareness about autism but will also educate people about the disorder and bring a sense of community for parents.
The Jake Jetpulse books are also great learning tools that have already been used by teachers.
“As a parent, I wanted to create something to show people that you’re not alone. I wanted to show people that this does not define who their children will be,” Bradshaw told TODAY. “There are amazing and exceptional individuals who are on the autism spectrum. I wanted to create something that gives people hope.”
Learn more in the video below:
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Source: The Autism Site Blog
