Chieko Awata, 68, is the founder of Aiai, a nonprofit organization that provides art education to autistic children and adults. For the past 46 years she has been teaching drawing, painting and social skills to children as young as 2 years old. Some of her students have remained with her for as long as 40 years. Awata is a graduate of the Aichi University of Education and since her senior year, her life's work has been to bring happiness and independence into the lives of autistic people and their families. It has been an exhausting challenge — although busy teaching, she also spends countless hours visiting companies in order to secure full-time designer positions for her talented artists. Awata's efforts are paying off and some of her students have the type of financial independence most artists can only dream about. Awata's own dream is still in the making: To build an atelier and museum in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, dedicated to autistic artists.
Once you know how tough a job is, you respect it a lot more. I hold art classes for parents so they can understand how difficult drawing is. Once they experience the creative process, they develop more respect for their children.
I never met a child I didn't love immediately. I'm a workaholic because I want to be with my students all the time. Regardless of their age, they maintain the wonder and curiosity of children and every day is a new adventure for them and me. Their talent for art is incredible, too!