Bounding through the door to a small gallery in central London, a youthful artist extends a handful of candy to a nearby couple. "Do you want some sweets?" he asks, eyebrows raised. The author of this childlike gesture is in fact the owner of the gallery: a prodigious talent and a shining example of someone who "overcame the odds." At the age of three, it was assumed that Stephen Wiltshire might never learn to speak, and for a number of years, he was only able to communicate by way of his burgeoning interest in drawing. Eventually, by removing his art supplies, his teachers encouraged him to begin using words.
In spite of the immense progress he has made, Stephen is today, in many ways, still the boy he once was: He frequently avoids eye contact; often hesitates for long moments before answering a question; stutters and slurs his words, and occasionally latches on to responses that he has been spoon-fed, when others are not forthcoming. Conversation appears more an obstacle course than a pleasure, but when the right words do occur to him, he is like the student at the back of the classroom who blurts out the answer lest his hand not be picked. Showing me around his gallery, I realize, must be a comforting experience for Stephen. The answers - every one of them a product of his own mind - are all hanging directly in front of us.
