Kim Miller

Kim Miller (born 1988) is an American artist who was diagnosed with "classic" autism in 1991. She began creating artwork at the age of 3 1/2 years old before she could functionally speak. At first, her artwork was just the outward articulation of an aloof, introverted, seemingly expressionless autistic child. After several years of utilizing sign language, delayed echolalia (the echoing of words and phrases), coupled with speech therapy, she learned to speak verbally as detailed in the book The Girl Who Spoke With Pictures, which describes her advancement as a person with autism. Although Miller learned how to verbalize, she found it frustrating, difficult and time-consuming to communicate with words in real time. Drawing became a short cut to show her thoughts, feelings and needs.
Miller is often referred to as an "outside artist," outsider art self-taught and self-motivated. She is prolific in various mediums; acrylic paint, sculpting, ceramics, pencil as well as pen and ink. She is able to paint in a variety of styles exploring techniques such as pointillism, German Expressionism, or her own three-dimensional style; shifting from one painting to another as though simply changing fonts on the computer. Although some of the symptoms of autism (relating to objects rather than people, the fear of looking people in their faces, the inability to understand/process emotions) pose challenges, her unique work is outstanding for the fact that she chooses these very issues to examine and explore the complex human experience and relationships through her art.
Awards and accomplishments
* Artwork selected for Autism Society of Oregon Calendar 2005
* Artwork selected for design for T-shirt to Autism Society of Oregon’s annual Portland Walkathon 2005
* Artwork juried and selected for DIVA Autism Artism Show 2006, 2007,2008
* Individual Division Award in Fine Arts (excellence in academics) 2006
* Confederation of Oregon School Administration Award (COSA) in Fine Arts 2006
* Presidential Education Award (3.75 GPA and above) 2006
* Scholarship of Merit from Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
* Exhaling Beauty- Art Show 2010
Publications
Miller's work is featured in the following publications:
* Autism Handbook for Parents: Facts and Strategies for Parenting Success by Janice E. Janzen (Kim Miller was 9 years old when this was published) Prufrock Press (March 1, 2009)
* The Girl Who Spoke with Pictures: Autism Through Art by Eileen Miller and Kim Miller, (Sept. 2008) Jessica Kingsley Publishing
* Autism, A Guide for Educators, Clinicians and Parents (Jan 13, 2008) by G. Robert Buckendorf, Ph.D., and CCC-SLP, Super Duper Publications (January 13, 2008)
* Apples for Cheyenne by Elizabeth Gerlach, Illustrator- Kim Miller (2010) Future Horizons
Publications regarding Miller:
* Behind the Pictures: Autism, Strategies for Change by Eileen Miller, Sept. 2010 Mimic Queen Publications

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