FEATURE: Branford cartoonist Travis Ford draws from his daily struggle with autism

Published 4:42 pm Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Travis Ford’s emotions, happiness and sadness and all that fall between, are as unknown to most of the outside world as the inspiration behind the whimsical characters he creates during afternoons in Mrs. Fryer’s art class. Autistic, but prodigiously artistic, he has managed to escape autism’s isolating restraints with the help of a motley crew of simply drawn, but inspired cartoons.

What the 16-year-old cannot express verbally or in social situations he can show through the carefully drawn characters he calls “Simply Amazing Cartoons.” Drawn with vibrant colors, or deep charcoal tone and true-to-life expressions, Travis’ characters, and the story line he has created, stand as an allegory for the troubles he has faced growing up with autism. For Travis, creating cartoons is simply his expression of self.

Travis’ art is highly symbolic and most of his cartoons center around a common theme, bullies. Travis says he got along with students and did fine in school until around third grade when he first encountered bullying and name-calling. “They thought I was kind of ‘special’,” said Travis, whose favorite song is Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and enjoys watching westerns like “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. “Some kids kind of think of me as stupid. They would call me stupid and say hard words.”

“It kind of hurt me a little,” said Travis.

Out of that pain, was born “Teek.” “Teek is like my alter-ago,” said Travis of his cartoon protagonist. “He likes the same foods I do. Teek likes ice cream, I like ice cream. He likes to be nice and help kids, I like to be nice and help kids.” In the cartoon, Teek is a super-hero with special powers who saves school kids from bullies. He can transform objects into swords and change suddenly into a magician or sailor. Teek, whose hair grows with his imagination, can also turn shadows into people “like magical shadow puppets,” according to Travis. “If a student is being bullied, Teek can turn a shadow into a teacher to save him.”

Travis is an old soul. Sitting on a couch, chatting with the well-mannered youth, it is easy to tell that as the youngest child and one with special needs, he has been his parents’ companion. With the rain falling outside, Travis flips through “The Adventures of Teek” pointing out some of his favorite characters and telling some of the stories, character voices included. As we sit and talk, Travis often become distracted by a sudden change of expression or hand motion and pauses mid-sentence. However, if one tries to help him finish a sentence or anything of the like, he cracks a small smile, seeming slightly amused at such inpatients.

Travis says he invented Teek and the other characters not only as a way to express himself, but also as a way to help those with special needs.

“I came up with Teek just to help kids with special needs. Really just to make them cheer up over anything,” said Travis. “I also do it for myself because I love to draw and I also love to paint. It’s also a way for me to express myself. But really, I just kind of made my cartoon characters to encourage everyone to believe in your own abilities. That everybody, no matter who they are, they can believe in themselves.”

People like Travis, with severe mental deficits who possess such unexpected gifts are called savants, from the French verb savoir, to know. Examples of savants include the extraordinary talent of Steven Wiltshire. He can draw an accurate and detailed landscape of a city after seeing it just once. He drew a 33-foot long panorama of Tokyo following a short helicopter ride. Ellen Boudreaux is a blind autistic savant with exceptional instrumental skill. She can play a piece of music perfectly after hearing it only once, and has such a large repertoire of songs memorized that a newspaper reporter once tried to “stump Ellen” by requesting that she play some obscure songs. The reporter failed miserably.

Travis, born in Largo, seemed just like his older sisters at first, said his mother, Carla. It was not until Travis was around three years old that she noticed he was not learning to speak at the rate her older children had. She became worried. For years doctors, psychologists, specialists, all diagnosed Travis with everything from Asperger’s Syndrome to simply a speech/language disorder. “They never gave us clear answers,” said Carla. When the Fords moved to Branford from Mississippi seeking a quieter atmosphere, Travis took part in a special study at the University of Florida and was finally diagnosed with autism.

“It was heartbreaking,” Carla said of watching Travis struggle growing up. Travis would get angry over little things and talk about bullying incidents that happened over a year ago, as if it happened yesterday with great detail. But what worried Carla most was the difficulty he had expressing his emotions and making friends. “With autism it is hard for them to know when kids are leading the on just to pick on them or being sincere,” sad Carla. “He has such a big heart and he wanted friends so badly.”

“We tried to make sure he was as normal as possible,” said Carla who along with her husband Kelvin made sure Travis participated in everything from FFA to Boy Scouts, to swimming with dolphins on the family vacation. “From the time he was a very young child we tried to fit him in.”

However, Travis recently proved he was born to stand out.

In Mrs. Vaster Fryer’s art class this past summer, “Teek” was not the only one who bloomed. “I couldn’t believe the characters and stories he came up with,” said Fryer. “Through this cartoon character, he has not only inspired other students, but found acceptance. He has blossomed.”

Through a superhero whose special powers, shadow puppets and disappearing swords (i.e. kindness and respect), help him protect kids from bullies, Travis has managed not only to find a place among his peers, but has also encouraged and inspired them. When asked why he feels some find it funny to say negative thing to people who have special needs he said, “I really think people act that way because maybe they have had hard times with their family,” said Travis. He says it is for those who picked and called him names that he created Teek. “This is really why I made Teek. No matter if maybe you’ve having a hard time, always try to keep moving forward.”

Travis, who once learned sign language so he could better communicate with a deaf friend, does not want fame or fortune. He simply wants to help encourage kids and be known as an intelligent, good person, and not just for having autism. “I just want people to know I’m a nice person. That I’m a good person who can learn things.”

Meanwhile, Travis is in school and only taking one speech class per week this year. He hangs out and plays video games with friends, such as his best friend Eric and he has a few crushes. “Eric comes over and we play video games and talk. And yeah, we talk about girls,” Travis admits. Recently, he has begun using computer programs to create motion cartoons. Travis even records Teek defeating yet another bully, or simply performing magic trick for kids and sends them to friends using a cell phone. Travis, of course, does all the voices. He taught himself to use the programs and often picks up skills naturally and with little, if any instruction, said Carla. Although Travis currently has no set plan for what he’ll do after high school, he says art school is a definite possibility.

“I wouldn’t want another son,” said Carla. “He has the best qualities because he has such a big heart. He looks at the world different and he makes it make sense.”