Art/Music/Play Therapy sharing..

[Jessica]

I was wondering if anyone could share some anecdotes/success stories/general experiences with Art/Music/and/or Play Therapy for children with special needs. I find I am always trying to convince teachers and parents that these are worthwhile ways to spend a session. When I was working with a preschooler with Autism last year (let's call him "D"), his teacher told me that he didn't participate in art projects in the class, because he didn't like to touch the materials. I made it my goal, that by the end of the school year (I had about six months), "D" would be elbow deep in fingerpaint. The teachers seemed confused that I focused as much attention on getting "D" involved in art materials as I did on language and social skills, but I don't view them as separate---in fact, I don't think you can compartmentalize any skills or experiences, though you may need to teach many things explicitly with some children with Autism---it is still important to integrate all of the senses. For me, art therapy was a way of communicating with "D," connecting with him, and helping him to understand his own experiences, instead of just teaching him my view of the world around him. Through art, "D" was able to tell me about his family, his favorite things, his interest in frogs, and so much more. The excitement generated by his new found ability to create and communicate in this way, led slowly to other attempts at communicating - including gestures, and eventually some verbal language. Also, he was so motivated to express himself, that he eventually seemed to forget how much he "hated" touching art materials, and by June, he was elbow deep in fingerpaint, shaving cream, floam,dough, goop, gak, and even mud.

[Alison Kiser]

When my daughter was going through a depressed stage last year, she drew a lot of her depression in pictures. It was very sad to look at her pictures, but it gave us insight into what she was not able to verbalize about her feelings. About 6 months after that, she started drawing smiles on her drawings, happier things and so on. You could really see the progression of her feelings in her drawings. She didn't do art therapy, but she drew on her own and even explained a few of them to us. It was very helpful for all of us to work threw her issues.

[Marisa Barnhill]

My son has SPD . His symptoms are mild but enough to effect him. We will start theraplay in the fall, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Dana Dea]

I think the therapy you speak of is brilliant. We use it all the time for our sons (both autistic). My oldest loves music at school and art. My youngest uses his imagination thru creating pictures to tell us when something is wrong of if he is excited. It is another way to communicate with them. More schools need to do this. People think just because some kids can't communicate verbally or that they seem rigit that there is no hope. Thank you for proving there is. This also helps with social issues that most autistic children have. I hope your school takes a cue from you to help others. Communicating thru arts of different kinds is so theraputic for them.

[Michelle Weldy]

My children are both on the spectrum, and I try to multitask "playing" with therapy all the time. It works really well. What you're describing is a way of generalizing therapy, and its something that has worked extremely well with my children. Its a natural extension of traditional therapy, and helps them learn how to adapt to a wide range of experiences they otherwise would be excluded from. The key is in gradualling increasing your expectation while still being willing to adapt if it becomes too much. The difference that even a year has made in what my children are able to handle is amazing. They don't identify the things our children have issues with so that we can prevent them from ever encountering those things again,... its so we can help them learn to deal with those things. Having therapy cross "boundaries" into all aspects of play, making it fun so they'll be willing to try new things, only makes sense.