Art as a Language for Autism


Book Description

Art as a Language for Autism addresses the clinical challenges that are common in working with autistic spectrum disorder by exploring how artistic expression can provide a communicative language for younger clients who are set in their thought processes and preferences. Exploring how both art and play-based approaches can be effective tools for engaging therapeutic work, this book introduces strategies to help young clients find expressive "languages" that can fully support communication, expression, and empathic understanding, as well as build skills for relaxation, calming, and coping. Building from a foundation of a client’s individual strengths and interests, this playful and integrative approach is informed by an awareness of the individual sensory profiles and the developmental needs of children and adolescents with autism. Through a greater awareness of these materials and processes for therapy, the reader will be able to create a space for their young clients to share what they know and care about. This exciting new book is essential reading for clinicians working with children and adolescents on the autism spectrum.




The Art of Autism


Book Description




A Complete Guide to Teaching Art to Those with Autism


Book Description

Featuring 100 exciting hands-on easily reproducible art projects including visual examples, illustrations, and one-step directions; so that all lessons can be taught successfully with no previous art experience necessary. This one-of-a-kind comprehensive how-to-guide is an unparalleled resource for both teachers and parents who wish to promote independence through the effective intervention of art to those with ASD. An overview of its contents includes: Basic Facts About ASD provides the necessary information about the multiple types of autism and the typical disabilities associated with each, while drawing awareness to the prevalence of this disorder. Schematic Art Developmental Stages includes descriptions and illustrations so that students work can be easily evaluated assessing their current status. Foundational Instructional Elements contains insights into teaching art to those with ASD including building life skills, multidisciplinary connections, and current comparative art therapy practices. Review of Literature is an outline of the historical development of art education emphasizing its importance throughout history. Successful Art Model Programs reviews examples of effective curriculum showing arts positive impact on student achievement. The Elements and Principles of Design provides a multitude of visual examples and extensive definitions in a concise manner for easy understanding of these foundational concepts inherent to any quality art program. Building an Art Cabinet offers descriptions, techniques, and vocabulary in a detailed overview of the vast array of medium types and supplies, including suggestions as to what essentials to stock. Planning an Art Curriculum contains all of the necessary step-by-step components to begin writing an art curriculum, preparing the classroom, and implementing classroom rules and safety procedures. Individual Developmental Concerns features ways to obtain student-centered information enabling you to understand students strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and sensitivities. Designing a Curriculum addresses requirements that should be taught, implemented, and incorporated within curriculum design, including core subjects, in order to improve student disabilities. Effective Teaching Strategies gives practical suggestions for helping students excel throughout the art process and within the curriculum. Behavior Management Techniques lists formal support plan suggestions and modifications, reward systems, and mediation impulse control ideas. Implementing a Curriculum helps you identify lesson selection and unit construction through samples, in order to implement long and short term goals, including an easy to fill out objectives form. Evaluation Procedures suggests multiple means of assessment in a variety of formats including a rubric scoring guide. Instructor and Parental Participation contains additional information for the Art Educator, Special Education Teacher, and Home Schooled Parent.







Art as an Early Intervention Tool for Children with Autism


Book Description

The early years are the most critical period of learning for a child with autism. Therapeutic art-making can be a useful tool to tap into their imaginations and help them to express their thoughts and feelings. Art as an Early Intervention Tool for Children with Autism includes practical advice on helping a child move beyond scribbling, organizing the child's environment for maximum comfort and relaxation, and providing physical and sensory support. This book is packed with tips and suggestions for how to provide art therapy for children with autism — covering topics such as the basic materials required, safety issues, how to set up a workspace, and ideas for managing difficult behavior. The author writes from a professional and personal perspective — Nicole Martin is a qualified art therapist specializing in working with children with autism, and she also has a brother with autism. Perfect for busy parents and as a practical reference for professionals such as psychologists, teachers, occupational therapists, sensory integration therapists and anyone working with a child on the autism spectrum.




Autism and Talent


Book Description

"Originating from a theme issue first published in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences."




Reaching the Child with Autism Through Art


Book Description

Voted "Teacher of the Year" by The Autism Society of America, Toni Flowers has more than twenty years of experience teaching individuals with autism. She believes all children benefit from art because it encourages creativity. As a result, children with autism may find a form of expression when they've been handicapped by delayed and/or disturbed language skills and/or abnormal sensory responses. Reaching the Child with Autism through Art offers teachers and parents specific tools and "plans" in four mediums: college, painting, play and sculpture.




Art Therapy with Children on the Autistic Spectrum


Book Description

Recent research has shown that art therapy can be particularly effective for children with autism and related communication disorders. The extensive range of symptoms experienced by autistic people makes them extremely individual in presentation, so any treatment used must be tailored to a range of varying needs. Art Therapy with Children on the Autistic Spectrum presents a new model of practice, which primarily focuses on communication difficulties. The authors describe how negative behaviours and subsequent tension may be alleviated when the autistic child is involved in interactive art making with the therapist. The book is divided into three parts: the first part explores art making processes and art work, with an emphasis on how art can be specifically communicative. A history of autism is presented within the therapeutic context. The second part challenges existing methods of practice within art therapy and considers the most appropriate approaches to treating autistic children. The last part discusses research that lead to the formulation of this specific model - methodology and assessment interventions are analysed, as well as the ongoing development of appropriate assessment instruments. Case studies of art therapy with individual autistic children demonstrate the use of the model and the outcomes. Throughout the book, it is emphasised how art therapy works as an integral part of overall management and treatment approaches to autism. It will be of particular interest to all those professionals working with autistic children and specialists in other communication disorders.




Drawing Autism


Book Description

Editor Jill Mullin is the recipient of the inaugural Felix in Art Award, presented by Extreme Kids & Crew "Drawing Autism highlights an 'area where individuals with autism can have great abilities.'...Jill Mullin, a clinical therapist, explores the recurring themes in art made by people with autism." --New York Times Book Review One of Brain Picking's Best Art, Design, and Photography Books of 2014 "This book is a testament to the power of art to reveal the inner world of people living with ASD." --Publishers Weekly "A jaw-droppingly beautiful book." --Library Journal Included in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's "96 Books For Your Summer Reading List" under "7 Visually Appealing Books" "Drawing Autism is not just a book about autism and art--it's a book about being human and expressing selfhood in all its beautiful, messy, complex forms. Add Drawing Autism to your wish list, tell your friends about it, and show it to your kids on the spectrum." --Autism/Asperger's Digest "Mullin, a behavior analyst, brings together fascinating works by 40 artists on the spectrum with their answers to her questions about their process." --The Boston Globe "Editor Jill Mullin has collected artwork from a host of painters and other graphic artists who are all somewhere on the spectrum. The fascinating and often lovely reprints in Drawing Autism help provide another perspective on the capabilities of people with autism." --Time Out New York "Mullin's clinical background in Applied Behavior Analysis, combined with more than a decade helping individuals with ASD, serve her well as the book's curator." --The Portland Phoenix " Editor Jill Mullin] has put together a beautiful and stimulating exhibition-in-a-book." --Story Circle Book Reviews "Drawing Autism is absolutely wonderful in its entirety." --Brain Pickings "Jill Mullin embraces the full range and spectrum of autism and artistic expression...Rich and varied images." --BookTrib "This book is like a key to opening doors across educational and medical landscapes. But perhaps even more importantly, the fact that many of the artists are able to explain what they were feeling at the time of their drawings will surely help this book find solid footing among parents, caregivers, and extended family members who have, up to this point, struggled to understand the inner workings of their precious loved one's autistic mind." --New York Journal of Books "A book of astonishing beauty." --BOOKS (France) "What is the actual experience of living with autism in a deep-felt sense, beyond the social stereotypes and headline-worthy superskills? Drawing Autism, a celebration of the artistry and self-expression found in artwork by people diagnosed with autism, explores just that. The stunning volume features works by more fifty international contributors, from children to established artists, that illustrate the rich multiplicity of the condition." --The Atlantic Over the last decade autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become an international topic of conversation, knowing no racial, ethnic, or social barriers. Behavior analyst and educator Jill Mullin has assembled a staggering array of work from established artists like Gregory Blackstock and Jessica Park to the unknown but no less talented. Their creations, coupled with artist interviews, comprise a fascinating and compelling book that serves to educate and inspire anyone who knows someone diagnosed with ASD. Mullin's introduction and the foreword by best-selling author Temple Grandin provide an overview of autism and advocate for nurturing the talents, artistic and otherwise, of autistic individuals.




Making Sense of Art


Book Description

Visual arts activities for children with developmental disorders grouped under each of the five senses into "expressive" and "craft" activities.