Dunedin artist Tanea Paterson believes it is especially true for people with autism.
She was diagnosed with autism in her late 30s after becoming a drug addict and spending most of her 20s in psychiatric/mental health services with a long list of other diagnoses.
"The treatments didn’t seem to work and it was really confusing and difficult.
"I was like, ‘why is this therapy not working for me — there must be something wrong with me’."
But since her autism diagnosis, her life has changed markedly.
"Everything makes a whole lot more sense now."
She is now an addiction counsellor and one of the founders of iNDx — an organisation which provides advocacy for people with autism, in the form of presentations and workshops.
"Conversations around autism were often negative, and I wanted to have more self advocacy, so people actually speak for themselves about what their experiences are like as an autistic person or parent."
However, she wanted to spread the word about autism further out into the community, so she established the iNDx art exhibition.
"The exhibition was a way to reach a wider audience.
"A lot of my autistic friends made art — that was their thing and they enjoyed doing it, so it came from there.
"The exhibition is a way of communicating with the community.
"For me, the idea was to have the artists present themselves and speak through their artwork."
Ms Paterson is one of about 30 autistic artists from around New Zealand to have their collaborative and thought-provoking works on display in Otago Museum’s Beautiful Science Gallery.
It will feature works from portraits to comic-style pieces and from abstract art to whimsical illustrations.
The new venue will allow for audio, digital, and video pieces to be displayed alongside physical artworks.
iNDx has won a national arts access award, and not only allows the public to appreciate the diverse talent of the autistic community in Otago, but also provides opportunities for collaboration, partnership, community, and creativity, and a chance for voices to be heard.
The exhibition opens this Friday and closes in mid-December.
