{"id":41610,"date":"2021-09-04T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/painting-and-aspergers-syndrome-a-powerful-pair\/"},"modified":"2021-09-04T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T11:00:00","slug":"painting-and-aspergers-syndrome-a-powerful-pair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/painting-and-aspergers-syndrome-a-powerful-pair\/","title":{"rendered":"Painting and Asperger\u2019s syndrome: A powerful pair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango resident John Truitt stands with some of his recent paintings. Truitt had a long career as a businessman before being diagnosed at age 45 with Asperger\u2019s and dyslexia. (Courtesy of John Truitt)<\/span>Courtesy of John Truitt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Local artist, nonprofit founder and businessman John Truitt is using art to raise awareness about Asperger\u2019s syndrome.<\/p>\n

Truitt, a native Texan who moved to Durango in 2016, was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s and dyslexia at age 45. The diagnosis inspired several changes in his life, including painting abstract art and establishing the On the Spectrum Foundation in 2019, which seeks to empower adults on the spectrum and advocate for people diagnosed as adults.<\/p>\n

Before establishing the foundation, Truitt worked in the medical, dental and biotech fields for more than 25 years. He also served as a combat medic in the 25th Infantry Division. In his spare time, he works with disabled veterans through art therapy and coaches parents of children who are on the spectrum and adults diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"A
A painting by Durango resident John Truitt, an artist, nonprofit founder and businessman, who was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s and dyslexia at age 45. (Courtesy of John Truitt)<\/span>Courtesy of John Truitt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Soon after Truitt was diagnosed in 2017, he was searching for a relaxing outlet and found himself at the doors of an art store. Now, he\u2019s using his own abstract art pieces to market the foundation through a new venture, \u201cArt on the Spectrum.\u201d Money raised through selling his art is funneled to his On the Spectrum Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I can put out there that grabs people\u2019s attention, but creates a story and creates a conversation,\u201d Truitt said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Truitt describes his painting as \u201csurfing on the spectrum.\u201d He puts on his favorite music and lets his Asperger\u2019s stimming take over. \u201cStimming\u201d is short for self-stimulating behaviors \u2013 a series of repetitive physical movements, words or sounds that occur during intense emotional experiences and can also ease anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows me to create something that I can do at my own pace that\u2019s completely mine,\u201d Truitt said. \u201cFor me personally \u2026 it\u2019s a massive relief and release and just allows me to calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A painting by Durango resident John Truitt, an artist, nonprofit founder and businessman, who was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s and dyslexia at age 45. (Courtesy of John Truitt)<\/span>Courtesy of John Truitt<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Through his art, Truitt has met many others on the spectrum who use art as an outlet. Many famous artists throughout history are speculated to have been on the spectrum, including Pablo Picasso.<\/p>\n

Truitt has several goals for the foundation, including creating a feature film about Asperger\u2019s and creating a center to help those on the spectrum navigate the diagnosis. At the center, Truitt plans to teach people how to practice mindfulness, educate participants about proper nutrition and help people find a job that aligns with their interests and strengths.<\/p>\n

He also plans to reach out to schools and other local entities in Durango to spread the word. Once resources and programming are established locally, Truitt hopes to replicate the services throughout Colorado and eventually across the United States.<\/p>\n

Overall, Truitt\u2019s main goal is to raise awareness and thwart negative misconceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsperger\u2019s is not, by any means, a mental impairment,\u201d Truitt said.<\/p>\n

His personal diagnosis was a surprise at first, Truitt said, but because of his own misconception of being on the spectrum. In hindsight, he said he would often \u201cmask\u201d his behavior in social situations, which is when spectrum behaviors are hidden to fit into a social situation. For example, a person on the spectrum may suppress stimming when meeting someone new at a bar.<\/p>\n

Women typically mask or camouflage more than men on the spectrum, which contributes to often-missed diagnoses. Many women on the spectrum are misdiagnosed as being bipolar because over-stimulation can appear as mood swings, Truitt said. Truitt himself was also misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of medical misogyny,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Truitt<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Support from his wife, Ashley, and longtime friend Gus Dorrell, who serves on the foundation\u2019s board, was integral in coming to terms with his diagnosis, Truitt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got diagnosed, we got diagnosed,\u201d Truitt said.<\/p>\n

Watching Truitt find a relaxing outlet in art and using it to raise awareness about Asperger\u2019s has been incredible, Ashley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really awesome to see the development of what he\u2019s doing with colors and the palette,\u201d Ashley said. \u201cIt\u2019s been quite incredible to see it develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truitt\u2019s pursuit of building and establishing the foundation is admirable, Dorrell said, and he\u2019s glad to be a part of the effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that helping others overcome the issues in which we\u2019ve been dealt and deal with makes it very rewarding,\u201d Dorrell said.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the On the Spectrum Foundation, Asperger\u2019s or the spectrum, email john@onthespectrumfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durango man uses art to spread awareness about being on the spectrum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[363,28,1142],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-41610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts","tag-headlines","tag-profile"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41610"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=41610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}