The photograph above is of a drawing Didi did in around 1982 when she was 13. It was done using pen and ink and Caran d'Ache crayons). The painting itself is very large - too big to scan, hence the sadly rather poor quality photograph.

The drawing was intended to express rage and anger - at the time Didi was extremely shy and being bullied to the point she would find it hard to speak. She longed to be able to communicate with the "bitchy retorts" that she heard the other girls at school using for self-defence but she never seemed to be able to find any words when someone was being nasty to her.

However, if Didi got sufficiently angry, she would ignite in a massive temper-tantrum - very typical of someone with autism. When she once did this at school, from then on she rarely was bullied - certainly not physically - only verbally when several girls were present and then they would call her "psycho". This seemed to be a great defence so Didi encouraged it - it meant people left her alone. Thus, the drawing is about a very physical defence - the ability to breathe fire on those that are horrid to you.