Throughout their lives, they have been labeled with various syndromes and conditions. They experience the world in a way that is different from the bulk of society and from each other. But this Saturday, March 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Vineyard Haven Baptist Church parish house, they will all share one label: they are artists.

The Soul Doctors Equinox Art Show features the work of a group of young people who live and learn on what might be considered the fringe of society, looking at the world most people take for granted from the outside. And if the job of an artist is to present a moment or idea in a way that forces the viewer to reconsider their own notions about what is beautiful, or interesting, or compelling about life, then these are great artists. All of them.

The art show was conceived and produced by Soul Doctors, a group of parents with children with disabilities, as an opportunity for their children to engage with the larger Island community (and vice-versa) and share their creative vision. The group meets on a semi-regular basis, about every other month. Out of the roughly 15 people who have been involved with the group since its inception, most meetings find five attendants at the most. The reason being: they must be at home with their children.

Being the parent of a child with a disability can be a full-time job, precluding all other activities and aspirations. Often the sympathies of strangers to the world of disability fall on the children, but it is their parents and caregivers who bear the weight, serving as the liaison between their child and the world around them, tirelessly working to advocate for their charges and enforcing the adaptations that “normal” life requires of those who function differently. It is important for these parents to find support and fellowship in those who share the emotions that commonly arise in the struggle to make life work for their kids.

Robin Tuck, founder of Soul Doctors, has a 15-year-old daughter, Elke. Elke has epilepsy, a condition that has manifested in a multitude of learning disabilities. Four years ago, Ms. Tuck decided that she had had enough of the negativity that surrounded many other support meetings. “We so often spent the meetings complaining about what out kids aren’t, when it’s so much more important to focus on the positive, on what our kids can do.”

Ms. Tuck decided to set up her own group, and recruited a friend of hers, Cecily Greenaway, to be the group’s moderator. Ms. Greenaway has a background in psychoanalysis, as well as in Zen buddhism. “She is really trained to keep things in perspective, to bring it back from what you worry is wrong to what you know is right about these kids,” says Ms. Tuck.

So to the art show. One of the main difficulties faced by the disabled is the problem of participation. “Sometimes I think, ‘Why can’t Elke go to Felix Neck? Why can’t she go to soccer camp? Obviously the answer is that you need to have an aide there in case she has a seizure. But these kids just want to have fun like everyone else. The primate thing is to want to belong, to be a part of something.”

This weekend’s art show is a chance for just that. Jennifer Langhammer, an artist herself and the daughter of Ms. Greenaway, volunteered to curate the show, culling through around 30 pieces of work by seven artists, in media ranging from pottery to painting to computer printouts to photography.

Through the curatorial process, Ms. Langhammer has gained some insight on the minds of the young artists through their work. “In one way, it’s like their vision relates so much to heralded artists. To be a great artist you have to train yourself to look at things from the outside. These kids do it naturally.”