Stephen Mattson
Stephen is described by his mom, Kathy Mattson Sutorius, as "an amazing kid." Multiply disabled, Stephen has endured a number of surgeries. He attends a school for children with autism in New York City, where his mom says he is flourishing. Highly verbal, Stephen is also very artistic and creative, as you can see by his paintings and knitted quilt; the quilt earned Stephen a 2nd-place award at the Queens County Fair.
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"This was my first painting ever. My art teacher asked us to do a still life. She put objects on a table and told us to paint what we feel. I drew a garden, a fish, a dog and things that I really love to play with." -Stephen
"This is my first try at knitting. My Mom got me yarn and showed me how to knit, and she sewed the quilt together. I used different colors and different size needles to make it beautiful. When people see it they say it is really beautiful to them and to me. I like to see their faces happy." -Stephen
"I saw a calendar and I love the sunset. It's really hard to do, so I did a still life of what it looks like to me." -Stephen