About Wil

Check out a video of Wil creating

his fun paper cutouts!

About Wil C. Kerner

"The Cutout Kid"

William Clark Kerner, born 1995, was diagnosed with Classic

Autism at age two, a time when he accepted animated characters as his friends and enjoyed glancing through picture books for his favorite spiders and animals.

At nine, he discovered the feel and colors of Play Doh, began drawing facial expressions and cutting construction paper. Within months, he was verbally labeling his feelings with the names of the Seven Dwarfs. On his tenth birthday, he realized that presents had surprises inside, a pair of scissors, for one. Oddly, he wrapped his fingers and hand entirely around them mysteriously making perfect cuts, and still does.

Wil is an only child and attended public schools. His learning is paced by his autism. He is a compassionate, huggable, happy guy who enjoys ATV rides, swinging and trampoline jumping, as seen below, and shopping for new packs of colored paper.

Wil enjoys creating paper characters as well as side-by-side stacks of colored paper, both representing his animated video friends that he quickly identifies by either video names or their colors when asked. To this day, he is age-typically behind but continues to enhance his inherent spirit for living and determination to make his own choices.

Since scissors and colored paper became Wil’s main self-therapy, he has made incredible self-progress through the making and public recognition of his paper cutouts.