Lake Peekskill mother with autism turns to art to cope with cancer diagnosis and inspire others
News 12 first spoke to Jenkins last spring, who says painting became both an outlet and a bridge to the world around her after she was diagnosed with autism at a young age.
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Jessica Jenkins starts another day in her studio at her Lake Peekskill home, freely expressing herself one piece at a time.
"I feel relief," she said. "I feel understood. Even if other people don't understand me, the paper or the canvas at least understands me."
News 12 first spoke to Jenkins last spring, who says painting became both an outlet and a bridge to the world around her after she was diagnosed with autism at a young age.
" I've been drawing since I was eight years old," she explained. "I was non-verbal at the time, and I wanted a way to communicate to my family about my wants, needs and thoughts... A year ago, my speech was impaired due to medical reasons, and it took a whole year for my speech to go back to normal... I already have a hard time with words. Even though I'm very verbal now, I have a hard time seeing words in my brain. My brain is more like a music video."
From there, her shop Flappy Hands Creations was born, named after her signature hand gesture she does when she gets excited. Throughout the years, she's sold artwork from paintings to jewelry and clothing, all in hopes of inspiring others in the autism community. However, her journey recently took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with stomach cancer.
" It was very frightening because the tumor was benign at first, and we were monitoring it for a whole year," Jenkins said. "It seemed to progress very quickly."
With the diagnosis already being a shock, Jenkins said the financial burden of treatments is now another setback.
"I don't have the money to pay for the surgery," she said. "It was originally $48,000, but we appealed it, and now it's $17,000 that I have to pay. That's still really hard on me because I'm not medically or cognitively cleared to work a regular job. So, my art is what I do for a living. I don't know how I'll accumulate that money... I don't know how to process any of it."
As she did when she was growing up, Jenkins decided the only way to process this new challenge was by turning to her art.
"It helps me disassociate from that experience, and it keeps me calm," she said. "It actually keeps me motivated to continue fighting."
Through every setback, Jenkins says her mission remains the same: to show people that even in the middle of major challenges, you can still find purpose.
" I want them to understand that it's going to be okay and to not stop fighting," she said. "I'm in this community. I don't want them to feel like they're alone. I'm part of this journey, so wherever they are, I'm with them."
The main way to support Jenkins is by purchasing her art pieces on her website.
