Intro by Claira
Written by Riley
Everyone is born with a special dream to fulfill. One may want to open a coffee shop in a remote village in the middle of nowhere, another may dream of winning the national election to lead the fight against global warming. Whatever your dream, its magic will serve a very important purpose that could make others smile or change the world.
Today, the Metaverse is witnessing an unprecedented burst of marvelous creations by kid artists. One of these artistic geniuses goes by the name of Sevi Agregado. The start of his life journey was worrisome for his family. At 2 years old, he was still non-verbal and his parents soon received the news that he was autistic.
Life skills for Sevi meant speaking, listening, making eye contact, and following instructions was tougher than for most kids, but all hope was not lost. His parents took the bull by the horns and focused on early intervention and opportunities, enrolling Sevi in enrichment and therapy programs that would help his development, like gymnastics, football, and art therapy. Not only did Sevi make progress and hit huge milestones for children with autism, but the classes also unearthed the artistic super abilities that are now taking NFT collectors’ breaths away.
NFT Kids mag writer, Rieley (@Lexigogo’s mum) based in New York, had the pleasure of connecting with Sevi and his mum in the Philippines.
Can you share Sevi’s journey?
When we found out that he had autism, I was shocked. I wasn’t necessarily in denial, but I wanted to do something right away to help him. I think the greatest tragedy is when a parent is in denial and delays intervention or therapy. It then becomes harder for the child and for the family to adjust later on.
In the beginning, he didn’t point and would just grunt, then he’d cry when he didn’t get what he wanted. But we didn’t know what he wanted because he wouldn’t express it verbally. With speech therapy and occupational therapy, that improved. We only thought of enrolling him in art therapy because it was offered in the center that he was attending when he was 5 years old.
When did you realize that Sevi’s talent exceeded your expectations of an art therapy class? When the director showed us Sevi’s painting of the Koi fish, we said… (find out how Sevi’s parents reacted to his newfound talent by checking out our new issue, click here)
