Effect of Visual Therapy on Expressive Art Performance of Autistic Children in Yaba Local Council Development Area in Lagos State
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of study
- To identify the various visual art facilities available in Yaba local council development area
- To examine the effect of visual art therapy on the expressive art performance of autistic kids in Yaba local council development area.
- To examine how to use visual art images as interventions to primarily enhance communication, self-expression, and socialization with peers
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual review
Autism
Autism is a complex developmental disorder that causes impairments in social interaction and developmental language and communication skills combined with rigid, repetitive behaviors. An autistic child who is very sensitive may be greatly troubled sometimes even pained by lights, sounds, touches, smells, or sights that seem normal to others. Many people with autism are cognitively impaired to some degree. In contrast to more typical cognitive impairment, which is characterized by relatively even delays in all areas of development, people with autism show uneven skill development. Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls. Autism typically appears during the first three years of life. It knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle, or educational levels do not affect a child’s chance of being autistic (Aadil, 2014).
Symptoms of autistic disorder fall under three domains: social relatedness, communication, and behaviors and interests, with delays or abnormal functioning in at least one of these areas prior to age 3 years. To meet criteria for autistic disorder, an individual must demonstrate at least 6 of 12 symptoms, with at least 2 coming from the social domain and 1 each from the communication and restricted behaviors/interests categories (Ozonoff, et al., 2005).
Visual Arts
Visual art are forms of art that with the aim of presenting diverse concept and complex emotion as documented by the artist. This in turn is communicated to the audience through representation media. These are any works of art that appeals to our sense of vision which include drawing, painting, sculpture, textile design, graphics design, industrial design and ceramics. (Quadri, 2012)
Wangboje (1990) defines Art as a process as well as a product. He explains that art as a process is a means through which we give sensual and concrete expression to our ideas and feelings about the world around us. According to him art as a product includes pictures, images, buildings, clothes, furniture, utensils, music, dance, drama, food, etc.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Research design implies the way the study will be conducted, the procedures and techniques employed to answer the research questions (Mcmilan & Schumacher, 1984). It indicates the nature of the study that was conducted. For this study, descriptive research design is used. This method is selected for that it enables the researcher to obtain the information concerning the current status of the phenomenon.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Introduction
This chapter contains the critical topics of this study. In this chapter the data which collected from interview are presented and further interpretation of the data is also included. The chapter is organized in a way that answers the research questions and objectives.
CHAPTER FIVE
FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Findings
- The need to develop positive and reliable means of self expression for children and adolescents with autism is imperative because of the many natural communication barriers that exist for them.
- Not being able to converse with others or say what they would like to say is a reoccurring problem that this population faces constantly with little or no new developments in sight.
- Due to the prevalence of the autism diagnoses in today’s society, these additional methods ofCommunication must be further developed to assist the growing number of newly diagnosed children.
- Through the art interventions completed in this study, evidence of self-expression, communication and increased socialization can be observed as a result of the art tasks in which the clients participated. In many of the art intervention examples, the pupils displayed evidence of understanding their emotions and communicating with colours they associated with those feelings. In others they demonstrated imaginative thinking when they drew an animal they would like to be, or built them from a variety of objects.
Conclusion
My dissemination of this chapter began with a summary of my key findings in which were deeply explored in Chapter 4. I then outlined the implications of my work for the broader educational community where I stressed that art therapy should be valued and recognized in the educational community, not only for its versatility, but for the promising outcomes it provides for students, and students diagnosed with autism. I then outlined implications for the parental community in that these art-based initiatives – if have been shown to prove beneficial in the school environment – should be practiced within the home environment to extend the benefits it serves. Later, I identified specific actions or recommendations for the school community, teacher community, and parental community.
- In essence,these communities would value in networking with professionals working within the discipline of art therapy to provide effective training, school support, and home initiatives that can be enacted to ultimately improve the lives of all students. Finally, I highlighted areas for further research as certain gaps and additional inquiries were developed through the completion of this study. Overall, I am confident that this study has created a movement within the educational community toward integrating visual art-based learning experiences to support students, especially those diagnosed with autism.
Recommendation
By and large, this study has been successful in that multiple art therapy interventions have been identified as effective in assisting children with autism to communicate through artwork. It is important for further research to be done on this topic so that more interventions can be identified and used to assist this population. Perhaps early intervention programs that provide therapy to children with autism would add an art therapy element to their programme, thus enhancing effective communication.
The findings are significant because many of the art interventions from this study have shown to be effective in enhancing communication and self-expression in children with autism. It may serve as a reference tool for art therapists who begin to work with this population. If more children with autism can be exposed to this alternative method of communication and receive art therapy sessions regularly, it is possible that even more individuals will find success in expressing themselves.
Above all, it is recommended that close attention span should be place on visual art as a viable tool to enhance communication of autistic disordered children to enhance representational artwork, socialization and behavioural change.
Educators hold an important role in the lives of students. Their ability to structure learning experiences that support the development and knowledge acquisition of students with complex needs can sometimes pose as a challenging task. However, when these accommodations and modifications are designed and implemented effectively, the feeling of reward is hard to ignore while students are flourishing. An effective method that teachers often rely on to enhance their practice is to seek additional training through a selected set of additional qualifications, and workshops. In light of this, research findings developed from this study point towards a need for additional training for educators in the area of art therapy or preservice educational courses structured around the use of visual arts and its ability to support complex needs such as autism.
While educators – both novice or experienced – enhance their understanding within the area of art therapy, the notion of using visual art to support developing and complex students will rather be thought of as an additional and effective method of supporting students in the classroom, as current perspectives hold art therapy to be unrelated to the classroom setting.
References
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- Ashum G. and Nidhi S. (2005) Psychosocial support for families of Children with autism.
- Autism Development Disorder (2015) Evidence-Based Practices for Children, and Young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Bakare, M. O. &Munir, K. M. (2013) Challenges Faced by families of Autistic Children International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation
- Boron C. (1993) Most Children with Autism Diagnosed at 5 or Older Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20120523/most-children-with- autismdiagnosed-at-5-or-older
- Campbell, B. (2011). The Challenge of Being a Parent of a Child with Autism Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/challenges-being-parent-child-autism.
