Explaining autism through art

Artist and stand-up comedian Leo Bird uses his work to educate people around Iowa on autism and what it’s like to be autistic. Starting out in the stand-up world, Bird began to use art to help illustrate his stories.

Bird’s work is the March exhibit at the Creston Arts Depot Gallery, open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Bird started the opening reception off Friday with a bang, sharing stories from his graphic memoir “The Words He Cannot Say.”

“What is patience? I think some people think they know what this word means, but they don’t. I would rather talk to someone who is patient than someone who is smart,” Bird said in his presentation. “You could be the smartest person in the world, an impossible feat given that being an expert in one topic means you won’t be in another, but it wouldn’t matter if you weren’t patient, because then talking to you would be like putting my hand in fire.”

Bird explained his journey to this point started with a short story writing class and an internship.

“In an interview for an internship, the person interviewing me suggested I could be someone who could educate people about autism. I thought I could do that by telling a true story by using the techniques that I had learned in my writing short stories class,” Bird said.

Bird said he used the same storytelling format as author J.D. Salinger, which allowed him “to express myself a lot better and people were willing to listen to me.”

It didn’t take much for Bird to bring these stories to the stage, where he was already performing as a vocalist. After sharing these stories at open mic nights around Des Moines, Bird decided to throw an illustration into the performance. It went well, so Bird continued adding more.

“They became a big hit with the audiences,” Bird said. “I stuck with it and it’s something that distinguishes me from the other speakers in my scene because I’m the only person who does it.”

Bird explained the experiences he has and shares may differ from other people with autism.

“I want other people to know that people with autism are very unique, so they might meet another person with autism, you might not act like anything that is shown in the stories,” Bird said. “I’m also learning that many of my challenges are not related to having autism, because people have told me that they have felt the same that I do.”

Bird’s work can also be found this month at the Octagon Center of Arts in Ames. Later exhibits will be at the Corning Fine Arts Center, the West Nebraska Arts Center and the West Wyandotte Kansas City Public Library.

Bird can be found performing at open mic nights at the Station, Beechwood’s Lounge and Tee Hee’s Comedy Club in Des Moines and Java Joes in Ankeny.

More information on Bird and his work can be found at LeoBirdStandsUp.com.