The incidence of autism is approximately 2 to 5 per 1,000 people.
The World Health Organization estimates that there are approximately 15 million people with autism worldwide, except for a few lucky ones.
The vast majority of young patients are isolated from normal society for life.
Scientists have been exploring the causes and treatments for autism for more than half a century. There are sanatoriums and research institutes around the world that treat autism.
Unfortunately, like many mental illnesses.
Today, when science is highly developed, treatment options for autism still remain in the category of empirical therapy.
Doctors can only roughly judge which treatment options are effective and which ones are ineffective based on past case experiments.
The few drugs developed have only a supportive role.
In addition to more scientific statistical methods, we will not find priests to use holy water to exorcise demons or stick a probe from the corner of your eye to stir your prefrontal lobe into a paste to create artificial dementia.
The approaches to treating mental illness in the twenty-first century are not fundamentally different from those used decades or even centuries ago.
"Some researchers actually believe that the new version of Little Prince can communicate with patients' hearts! Why does it do so?"
Sir Brown was extremely jealous.
He clearly knew how great the honor and attention would be if this conjecture was true.
It may not be a fantasy that illustrations can cure autism.
The most troublesome thing about autism is that patients often have language or social communication difficulties.
When they are thirty years old, they are still as fearful of the outside world as a baby and can only communicate with their parents and other close relatives using very simple words.
It seems that there is an invisible barrier that separates autistic babies from the perception of the outside world, and also blocks doctors from understanding them.
Even the most experienced psychiatrists need to communicate adequately with patients when designing medical cases.
And the little patients with autism will not understand what you say, and they will obediently fill in the "Self-Analysis Questionnaire for Mental Problems" or "Quantitative Analysis Form for ABC Behaviors of Autistic Children" for you.
Pictures, a non-verbal and non-written form of expression, have become world-recognized as the best bridge for patients to communicate with the outside world.
Illustrations can open the door to communication with little or no verbal interaction.
Autism intervention classrooms around the world are equipped with watercolor pens, oil pastels and fairy tale illustration books.
This has become an established rule.
There are even some psychologists in related fields who will learn certain professional painting knowledge.
For example, the famous Kennedy Treatment Center, a superb hospital like this, is directly equipped with an entire team of professional illustrators to perform artistic intervention, and the curative effect is very good.
While the Kennedy Treatment Center is known as the world's best magical place for autistic children to "take off their hats" (note), it also brings in treatment costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars for each course of treatment.
(Note: Children with autism have greatly improved their behavior and can integrate into normal life. They are called hating in the patient family group.)
A few courses of treatment can easily cost millions of dollars, which is more expensive than treating cancer at private hospitals like Mayo and Anderson.
The key is a bottomless pit.
Generally, the commercial insurance for pregnant women purchased by golden-collar elite families does not dare to cover such expensive medical items. Except for one in 100,000 richest people in the world, no one can afford such an expensive expense, so there is no possibility of universal promotion.
Psychiatrists and intervention therapy experts around the world are looking for illustrations that can better penetrate the hearts of all patients.
In the past, a sub-project under the WHO even contacted Oil Painting magazine.
With the style of oil painting, I don’t think it would be suitable for illustration.
Sir Brown's reply also humorously suggested that the other party should contact Disney for this kind of thing.
only.
There are so many painters in the world, why this Detective Cat?
"Lack of artistry" is a very useful hat. If God blocks God, he will kill God; if Buddha blocks Buddha, he will kill Buddha.
Your paintings are beautiful, but I can scold you for your lack of artistry.
If you sell it expensively, I can scold you for your lack of artistry.
Just because I don't like you, I can still scold you for your lack of artistry.
There are only two things in the world that are truly higher than art.
Power and soul.
The soil of art is attached to power, and the essence of art serves the soul.
In ancient times, both of these things were attached to the church. Therefore, documents record that a small regional priest could point his nose at Michelangelo and scold Michelangelo for his sculptures that were not in line with his wishes. Even the three masters of the Renaissance did not dare to retaliate. Mouth.
In today's society, with Sir Brown's current social status, he is actually qualified to despise power.
When I spoke at the European Art Annual Conference, the President of Austria and important senior officials of the European Union stood up and applauded.
However.
When he heard the news that a medical team believed that Detective Cat's paintings might be able to touch the lonely hearts of autistic children in layers of isolation, Sir Brown still felt uneasy in his heart.
He sat back in the chair, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.
How many years has it been...
For the first time since taking charge of the magazine, the chairman suddenly felt that the power to measure the artistic value of works may not be entirely in his own hands.
There was silence in the antique office.
The only sound left was the heavy breathing of the two men.
"This is the charm of the work that Professor Boggs is afraid of and would rather give up the opportunity to hold an exhibition than to fight against it. Sir Brown, I don't know if you are afraid. But when I read this news, I feel really scared.”
The first person to speak was the shareholder Al-Khelaifi.
"I didn't mention it to anyone. The moment I saw this book "The Little Prince", I actually hesitated for a moment. Do I really want to be an enemy of such a painter? As long as what is in front of me is not an unpopular painting with a knife. , but a traditional authentic oil painting. Maybe I will also lose the courage to attack such a work of art."
Al-Khelaifi stood up, looked out the window, and said slowly: "I know that among the shareholders present at that time, I must not be the only one who has the same idea as me."
Sir Brown snorted.
"I'm afraid it's too late to regret it now. The decision has already been made, and giving up halfway will result in nothing."
"No, friend, we are already on the same ship, so there is no room for regrets?"
Al-Khelaifi shook his head: "I just recalled the scene when the shareholders voted that day more than once."
"That afternoon, twelve of us shareholders collectively lied. This was our first vote since we evicted Anna from her seat on the board. I'm not a very honest person, but that never bodes well. It always gets me." I can’t help but think of a famous painting scene.”
"The Death of Socrates" by Jacques-Louis David?
Sir Brown remembered the words of female secretary Eliot and said angrily, "Even if the mob really drives Socrates away. After Socrates' death, there will still be hundreds of years before the real decline of Athens. Don't worry, we are probably watching anyway. That day won’t come yet.”
"No, no, my friend, not The Death of Socrates, but Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper."
Al-Khelaifi walked to the wall and looked up at the top of the glittering medal display cabinet, where the portrait of old Count Irena originally hung.
In a sea of famous paintings to choose from.
Sir Brown finally chose Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" to place here.
This painting records the scene in the Bible story where Jesus had the last supper with his 12 disciples before his disciple Judas betrayed him and was crucified.
Not a coincidence.
If one painting could be used to summarize and represent the entire history of Western art.
Among the so-called three most famous paintings in the world, "Mona Lisa" is actually too petty, while "Ladies of the Maid" and "Night Watch" are somewhat less famous.
On the contrary, it is the work that Leonardo da Vinci spent the most time and energy on, the replica of the religious mural "The Last Supper" in the Milan church, which has a unique historical status.
Sir Brown's choice is entirely reasonable.
only--
"When I walked into the office today, I saw that you had placed this painting in your office. This made me feel even more inexplicably flustered."
"You know, I am a person who believes in omens. Counting you and Miss Elena, there were exactly thirteen voting shareholders who attended the meeting."
Al-Khelaifi stood in front of the frame with a bulging belly.
He unbuttoned his vest, pulled out a silver cross chain from his collar, put it to his mouth and kissed it.
"Tell me, what role does each of us play in this change? Athens still prospered for 100 years after Socrates died. And in the myth, the betrayed disciples got the thirty coins that betrayed the savior. Only three days passed before he was rewarded with silver coins and hanged under a tree."
“Father in heaven, forgive my sin of dishonesty, if only I were not Judas.”
The chief art consultant from the Metropolitan City said very profoundly.
Beep beep beep...
Sir Brown's cell phone rang and he picked it up.
"No matter what news you have, I'm very busy now. Please call me again later. Postpone the agenda later." He said angrily to the personal assistant who called.
"Sir, I'm sorry, but Mr. Anthony called. Maybe you need to call him back." The assistant said urgently.
"...Go on. Did he contact me for any reason? All financial matters are handled by Kruger Bank."
The chairman said patiently.
Anthony is a well-known wealthy businessman in Rio de Janeiro. You can imagine how rich he is just by holding 17 million shares of Vale Group, the world's largest iron ore producer.
He's the kind of rich man who doesn't even have time to pick up $100 if it falls on the ground.
Of course, such rich people are very interested in both art investment and tax avoidance activities based on art funds.
Anthony is one of the wealthy businessmen with the most investment intentions in the preparation stage of the oil painting fund, with an initial investment of more than nine figures in euros.
Sir Brown found it difficult to refuse a call from such a person.
"Mr. Anthony saw the news this morning. He wants to know about the illustrations of "The Little Prince"..." The assistant's nervous voice came from the phone receiver.
"Tell Anthony not to worry, I'll call him in person later."
Before the secretary could finish speaking, Sir Brown pressed the phone impatiently.
He stood up hastily.
Now there is no spare time to accompany Al-Khelaifi to substitute into some fairy tale.
The world's richest people are really no easier to serve than God.
——
The heat of some news is like a spark of static electricity in the dry leaves in autumn, which will spread like a prairie fire at an unimaginable speed.
Originally, the debate over "The Little Prince" was already very hot, but it was only limited to the circle of art lovers and literary youth.
Affected by the acquisition of Oil Painting Magazine, some financial investors are also paying attention to news in this field.
The news from "The Economic Review" directly ignited the discussion of this topic in the entire media public opinion field.
Many large newspapers, which can affect the daily lives of millions of people, have reprinted and cited this news.
"The New York Times" - [New hope for universal art therapy? A scientific exploration triggered by the unintentional insertion of a fairy tale book]
"The Times" - [Saint-Exupéry's century-old legacy: Can the illustrations that make little girls smile make millions of autistic families smile? 】
"Le Figaro" - [As we approach April 2, the International Autism Awareness Day, let us focus on a new edition of a fairy tale book that has just been released in the UK. 】
Other newspapers, such as the Berliner Zeitung and the Sydney Morning Herald, all mentioned more or less anecdotes about this new illustrated book.
Generally speaking, it is difficult for ordinary diseases to attract such high attention.
Autism and Alzheimer's disease are exceptions.
The disease that attracted the most attention 50 years ago was cancer, 30 years ago it was AIDS, and in the past 10 years it has shifted to the neurological field.
They tend to have high incidence and high impact.
An average community will always have elderly people with Alzheimer's disease and children with autism.
Even cancer has targeted drugs. Mental illness often occurs around everyone, but only external intervention and treatment can be provided.
In the past, every time a pharmaceutical company announced that a drug for Alzheimer's disease had entered the third or fourth clinical phase, it often attracted full attention from society, and the company's stock price soared.
Autism is no less tormenting families than Alzheimer's disease.
And in the upcoming April, in addition to being the Easter holiday in many European countries, April 2 is also World Autism Day selected by the United Nations General Assembly.
Every major global news media will publish some special reports on the topic of "autism" at this time every year.
Television stations often launch special programs.
King's College London's research on the illustrations of "The Little Prince" happened to attract the attention of major media.
Besides, a magical illustration with medical effects is news in itself that can arouse readers' curiosity.
For a while.
Even President Osborne, who was sitting in his office on the top floor of London's Financial Street, opened his eyes like bells when he saw the sales statistics reported.
This is no longer a question of singing "Country road" or not.
Even though he was mentally prepared in advance, the CEO was still dumbfounded.
For a book that is not a newcomer's work and has a certain degree of popularity, its first-day sales are the highest in its sales career.
Sometimes you can sell more than 2% of all sales on the first day.
It will continue to fall after that.
"The Little Prince" showed such a trend. On the fifth day of release, sales in the UK had dropped to 5,000 copies per day.
The negative attitude from critics, while raising the popularity, did also dispel some people's enthusiasm for buying.
Osborne was originally very optimistic about this.
The sales figures are already much better than expected.
If the daily shipment volume in April can be stabilized at 3,000 copies, and the dream of selling one million copies a year can begin, I will be happy.
But the truth told Osborne - what does happiness mean when it comes so suddenly.
March 31, 2023 is the sixth day that Little Prince goes on sale.
Perhaps because of the weekend, there was a lot of growth in physical bookstores, and the sales data returned to 6,300 books.
And here comes the last day of the week.
On April 1, the attention of the press began to slowly reflect on the market sales, and the sales data began to rise again, reaching 8,100 copies.
In the first sales week of "The Little Prince", the total sales volume was fixed at 46,721 copies.
This number has the chance to top the book sales list in previous years.
Unfortunately, this year we ran into "The Spare Tire", which caused a wave of gossip among melon-eating people around the world. It has been on the market for more than a hundred days and still achieved weekly sales of 75,000 copies.
Fortunately, "The Little Prince" won the third place. Last year, the romance "Reality" that pushed his Federer autobiography off the top of the list has more than 10,000 copies. It can be regarded as a belated apology for President Osborne despite the defeat. Ten months of bad breath.
If we talk about the sales performance of 40,000 copies, Osborne feels like being brushed by a slight pulse current massager, which is a stimulating and refreshing feeling.
So next week’s sales report card...
Then Uncle Osborne was so shocked that he rolled his eyes and fainted from orgasm!
April 2nd marks the Easter public holiday in most countries across Europe, and also the real “Easter promotion season”.
Like Black Friday every year, the Easter sales season is also a day when major booksellers collectively ship large quantities of books.
They will issue various book vouchers and shopping discount coupons.
Brick-and-mortar booksellers like Saraiva, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble sometimes implement dynamic discounts linked to bestseller lists.
The so-called dynamic discounts refer to the in-store sales discounts of these bookstore operators during the Easter holiday, which will be tied to the book sales rankings in real time.
For example, for works listed on authoritative book statistics websites such as The New York Times, The Moon or Goodreads, the top 50 to 10 will receive a 10% discount, and the top 10 to 3 will receive a 15% discount.
The top three will receive a 30% discount directly to stimulate sales.
This is also the main reason why Scholastic Group must list books one week in advance.
Stimulated by various promotional methods, the Matthew Effect is formed. Books that have sold better in the past often sell more explosively during the Easter holiday.
The major media's promotion of "The Little Prince" also exerted its real effect at this moment.
Maybe "Spare Tire" is really the second book in human history after "Harry Potter" to have sales of more than one million copies in Europe on the first day in the book business market over the past thousand years. It is a complete monster player. .
Many data analysts have predicted that it will dominate the weekly sales list for thousands of days.
Perhaps even in the best dreams of the board of directors and executives of Scholastic Group, they never imagined that their old favorite "The Little Prince" could compete with such a bestseller.
However, miracles only happen when they feel most incredible.
Starting from April 2nd, the competition between the "little" prince and the "spare tire" prince has become absolutely intense.
On Monday, "The Little Prince" sold 13,571 copies.
Not only did it rebound to the daily average sales mark of 10,000 copies a week later, it also set a new record for the highest daily average sales of "The Little Prince" in the UK.
"Spare Tire" is even more ferocious.
During the Easter holiday, Netflix once again used its streaming client to attract traffic for the feature documentary [Harry and Meghan] that accompanies the book.
This documentary, with a signing fee of hundreds of millions of dollars alone, has been viewed for more than one billion hours globally, making it the most successful documentary in Netflix history.
Under the constant bombardment of streaming media and major TV advertisements.
The sales volume of "Spare Tire" is a terrifying 28,751 copies per day, ranking first among the pack.
On Tuesday, sales of "The Little Prince" continued to grow, reaching 17,521 copies. The sales volume of "Spare Tire" was 28,329 copies.
On Wednesday, sales of "The Little Prince" reached 20,036 copies.
"Spare Tire" continues to lead the way with 23,569 copies.
The average daily sales gap between the two parties in the UK has been narrowed to less than 3,000 copies.
The new edition of "The Little Prince" has become the fifth fairy tale book in British history to sell more than 20,000 copies a day.
From this moment on, all book people understand that the best-selling book this Easter holiday will only be between the two books "The Little Prince" and "The Spare Tire".
In fact, most people feel that there is no suspense about the sales champion.
Even though "The Little Prince" is as powerful as taking an aphrodisiac, and "The Spare Tire" has been on the market for a long time, the audience has already developed a certain aesthetic fatigue with this royal gossip.
However, within three days of the promotion, the sales gap of "The Little Prince" was close to 30,000 copies.
Chasing 30,000 copies in four days...maybe, it's very difficult!
The only thing people are watching is whether the "Little Prince" of Scholastic Group can once again dethrone "Spare Tire" as the single-day sales champion in this battle of princes during the Easter holiday.
There are even boring bookmakers that have special odds for this.
Scholastic Group is also amazed by the achievements of "The Little Prince".
Such a strong daily sales volume is also a rare sight for a publishing house with a market capitalization of tens of billions.
The board of directors belatedly allocated an additional million US dollars and began to build publicity for "The Little Prince" through various channels.
Various book review articles, advertisements, and promotional messages began to bombard me in turn.
Banners are also displayed on the homepages of mainstream book shopping malls.
The market is unpredictable.
What really dropped a bombshell in the public domain was not the Scholastic Group's second million-dollar special publicity fund.
It was a short video that went viral on YouTube.
(End of chapter)
