Daniel Comín, alongside his mother Delfina Pérez, has brought 'El Patrón Perfecto' to life. This book features the drawings the author created in his childhood, before he could express himself fluently through speech. These strokes, which many found meaningless, were treasured by his mother and now represent her son's first voice.
The work allows readers to delve into the experience of growing up with ASD. Comín was diagnosed at two years old and didn't speak fluently until he was twelve. The book, which includes reports from professionals who supported the young man, has enabled mother and son to jointly reconstruct the early years of a life that could not then be told with words.
The inspiration for 'El Patrón Perfecto' emerged after a visit to an art exhibition. Comín identified with the exhibition's wall drawing workshop, which motivated him to review the drawings his mother had kept. The idea that these 'scribbles,' marked by a pattern, could form a book then materialized.
Despite initial apprehension about revealing such an intimate part of his life, Comín decided to proceed with the goal of helping others. He points out that with the right support and tools from a young age, a child diagnosed with ASD can achieve their goals, just as he has by writing this book of 24 chapters and 188 pages chronicling his evolution.
The publication organizes his inner world into five sections: childhood before speech, perception of the environment, the adaptation process, the evolution of self-awareness, and his current understanding and inhabitation of the world. The book's format reflects Comín's gestalt language processing, with brief paragraphs that might initially resemble a poetry collection.
The drawings depict everyday anecdotes, such as his perception of noise, which Comín described as something that went through his body and which he would draw to organize and 'capture on paper.' Other strokes document the exchange of perspectives with his mother and complex life stages. The creative process, including digital cleaning of the drawings and writing, has helped Comín better understand his own story and his mother's.
The work begins with the phrase: 'Handle with care, it is my voice before words,' a warning that invites readers to discover not only drawings but also the twelve years of life that mother and son have recovered together.
