The mother of Iris Grace, a six-year-old girl who has been raising awareness of autism through her art, has said that autism ‘is a positive thing’.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast about her daughter’s story, Arabella Carter-Johnson discussed Iris’s life and the improvement brought about by her therapy cat.

Iris spent the first half of her life trapped in her own world, barely communicating, until cat Thula transformed the family.

After hearing of the potential benefits of how much interaction with animals can help autistic children, her parents decided to give it a try.

They first tried it with dogs and horses, but nothing worked until they saw how Grace responded to her uncle’s cat when they were taking care of it for a few days. Iris’ parents then decided to get a cat in 2014, which is when Thula came into their lives.

Since then, the Maine Coon cat and youngster are inseparable.

Before Thula came into their lives, Ms Carter-Johnson and her husband, Peter-Jon Halmshaw, went through a “dark time” trying to figure out the best ways to draw Iris out after her diagnosis four years ago.

Iris’ severe form of autism was marked by irregular sleep patterns, obsessive behaviour, refusing to make eye contact, avoiding playing with her parents or other children, and feeling distressed around people she didn’t know. She also had a tendency to disappear into books without wanting to engage with anything around her and didn’t speak or communicate.

Writing about her daughter’s condition on Facebook, Ms Carter-Johnson said that the cat seemed to adapt to Iris’ behaviour according to what she needed, distracting her during stressful times until she settled again.

Aside from the very special relationship she has with her cat, Iris is also famous for her painting.

“I started up this Facebook page to spread the word about Iris’ art and shine a light on autism, to show people that autism can be a positive thing,” she told the BBC.

“If you focus on the child interests, you can connect with them.”

Ms Carter-Johnson has also published a book on herself and Iris’s story.

“The book has given me the chance to tell the full story, the dark times and the light. It documents the early days, the diagnosis, how we found a key into Iris’s world and then the arrival of Thula, and all that came after that.

“Through our story it becomes clear that it wouldn’t matter if that interest had been something like watering cans or shells, we would go with it and find ways to connect with her. There is always a way, always a spark of interest to follow.”