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By
Helen Mudry
Staff writer
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Will Pardee is a mouth stick artist. He demonstrates
his artistic talents for the Clarksville students.
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Clarksville students had some special guests last week, including
a mouth stick artist, a blind autistic piano player and a former
Clarksville student who is also autistic.
Students are learning about intelligences and the ways they are
used. Some people show more talent or ability in verbal/linguistic
areas. Others are better in logical / mathematical. Other intelligences
are visual / special, music / rhythmic, bodily / kinesthetic,
interpersonal and intrapersomal.
The students are also learning about disabilities and how people
use and develop their intelligences. Will Pardee is a mouth stick
artist. He became a quadriplegic in 1981 when he broke his neck
diving into the Muskegon River. His fracture was at the fourth
vertebrae. He spent six months in intensive care at Mary Freebed
on a respirator .
When he was released from the hospital, he said he got very bored
watching TV and needed something to do. In 1982, his wife Sarah
placed some paper on an easel and some plastic piping on the end
of a pencil. Will started drawing and has developed his talents.
He was a hunter and fisherman before the accident, so many of
his pictures are of wildlife. He uses a wheelchair with chin controls.
He can move about using his chin to steer and adjust the height
of the chair.
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Jesse Heaven-Hoyle snaps to attention when Craig Ludtke
plays the Star Spangled Banner.
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He shows his drawings at 30 crafts shows a year. Some of his
drawings are printed onto note cards. He also does an occasional
piece on commission.
Will told the children he can draw for three or four hours at
a time. His eyes get tired through because he sits so close to
the paper.
He showed the children how he signs his pictures "in Christ,
Will."
He told the students he is a Christian and wants to let everyone
know it. Principal Ann Haglund bought one of his pictures for
the school. It is a globe with children standing on top. Each
child is a different race and some have disabilities and are in
wheelchairs or on crutches.
Craig Ludtke is blind autistic musician from Cedar Springs. He
started to play when he was 5. He is now 25 and can play just
about any song by ear. He can listen to a piece only once and
play it back nearly perfectly.
He played a lot of current Disney movie songs for the Clarksville
students. He also played Bach's Two- Part Invention in F. "He
doesn't practice, he doesn't need to," said his mother, Cindy.
He has played for many Cedar Springs events, including receptions
and his church choir .
Cindy said Craig's father, Bill, likes to listen to baseball
games and Craig would listen to the National Anthem before every
game. He played "The Star Spangled Banner" for the Clarksville
kids who rose to their feet (with a little prompting) and faced
the flag.
Jesse Heaven-Hoyle was another autistic guest. He is 15 and attends
Lakewood High School. Jesse went to Clarksville for grade school
and knew many of the teachers. He first greeted the students with
a Japanese salutation He then spoke about autism.
"A handicap is not always physical," he said. "It can be mental.
You can't judge a book by its cover ." He told the children about
his talents and interests. He is very good at video games. The
children nodded in approval as Jesse told them the video games
the plays, especially Pokemon.
He reported on the history of autism and how it was identified
with a label in 1982. Jesse said there are 47 autistic students
in the area.
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