By Deb Cleworth • Central Wisconsin
Chris Wooldridge heard for years how his son Thomas would never be a contributing member to society.
Now 18, Thomas' illustrations are the core of the book, “Dinosaurs Through My Eyes.” It's the sub-title that might raise an eyebrow: “Pre-historic illustrations from an austistic mind.”
What Thomas lacks in verbal communication, he relates in his drawings — especially dinosaurs. “It's amazing what he can draw,” said Chris of Wisconsin Rapids.
A divorced dad, Chris has been raising Thomas and his brother, Ben, 12, since the boys moved to Wisconsin Raids in 2007. He has two other children, Peter, 22, and Elizabeth, 20.
Thomas isn't comfortable around many people, and social situations can be challenging. Those challenges were leading Thomas on a downward spiral — until he came to live with his dad. Chris credits the staff at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids for Thomas' successes. “Lincoln saved his life,” Chris said. “I can't tell you how grateful I am to the staff there.”
Thomas' artistic abilities caught the eye of one of his teachers at Lincoln, Jerald Kline. Kline got the idea to incorporate the drawings into a book. “The main purpose of creating this book is to enlighten families who may have a child with autism, that they all have a special gift,” Kline said. Kline worked with Thomas, who also is very computer-literate.
Thomas researched the dinosaurs on the Internet — and knows how to spell and pronounce every dinosaur featured in the book. Once the illustrations were submitted, the publishing company, Xlibris, added color and background to the line drawings.
“I took little bits and pieces of what he wrote,” Kline said. Kline said the easy-to-read, colorful book would be appropriate for elementary-age students.
While social interaction is a challenge for Thomas, his dad thinks Thomas is proud of his accomplishments. “I think he was very happy when he saw his pictures in color,” Wooldridge said. Ben often looks out for Thomas, and his beaming smile shows the pride he has in his brother's accomplishment. “He took that book to school and showed it to everybody,” Ben said. “I think it's phenomenal. Everyone's like, ‘I can't believe an autistic kid (contributed to) a book.'”
Both Kline and Chris Wooldridge donate a portion of the profits to autism research.
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