GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Yazen Sami, a 5-year-old child with autism, sat with his eyes set on the flat paper in front of him. He held the paper and started folding it, right then left. It assumed the shape of a bird in his tiny hands. He took another paper and started turning it into a fish, then into other forms.
Yazen took up origami, the art of folding papers, after his parents accidentally discovered his hidden talent. Yazen’s parents believed origami would develop his mental capabilities.