SALEM, Ore. (KPTV/CNN Newsource) – A three year old boy in Oregon who isn’t speaking yet has plenty to say. He’s just using paint instead of words.
Bright colors and glitter fill many of Ocean Scott’s paintings.
The 3-year-old’s art–so bold and bright–it’s a stark contrast from a year ago, when he was diagnosed with type one diabetes, and it felt like a dark time for his family.
Ocean’s mom, April Sandvig, said, “Had a day of falling apart and immediately had to pull myself back together because I had to learn how to keep him alive.”
For April, the disease means six shots a day for her son and constant care.
She says it also causes speech delay. “The language stopped progressing and then anything he had really learned was really gone. I mean, he started again from like zero.”
But one day she noticed how things started to turn around. “We had paint around because I painted,” she said.
Instead of talking, she watched him grabbed a brush and started painting, using any color he could find and even rolling around toy trains as a tool.
April said, “His style is very unique and each piece is really different.”
Ocean’s mom is now selling his works of art online with part of the proceeds going toward a diabetic alert dog.
“Because I like that it’s his thing and it’s his time,” April said. “It’s like I feel like I need to do this, I’m doing this.”
And with each picture its own special piece, she says her son doesn’t need to talk just yet. He’s found the perfect way to communicate.
Some of Ocean’s artwork is selling for thousands of dollars.
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