Autism Art Therapy

by Sam Malone


Autism is a physical condition that results in a developmental disorder that becomes evident within the first three years of a child's life. This medical condition tends to affect the chemistry and the biology of the brain thereby adversely affecting the development of communication and social skills. Although it is not possible to ascertain the exact cause of autism, research has shown that there may be a combination of factors that may result in the occurrence of autism such as diet, vaccine sensitivity, genetic factors and so on.

Art therapy is a mental health profession that uses the process of art to enhance as well as gradually improve the mental, physical as well as the emotional well-being of an individual. Art therapy works on the fundamental belief that artistic self expression is very effective in helping people manage behavior, develop and improve on their interpersonal skills, resolve conflicts, achieve insight, minimize stress and also have a greater sense of self awareness.

Since those suffering from autism tend to find it difficult to express themselves socially and verbally they become reserved and unsocial. Art therapy for autistic children as well as adults is known to be effective as art is a form of expression that requires little to absolutely no verbal expression. Art therapy will allow an autistic person to think and express visually using mainly pictures.

Another one of the benefits of art therapy is that it will allow the therapist to work with the autistic individual on a one to one basis and help them in developing their own form of communication through art. Art for autism is an effective treatment combination where those affected by the condition are able to express themselves through pictures. In time the autistic individuals will gradually become more comfortable and thereby be able to communicate more effectively even as compared to verbal communication.

Art therapy is known to open plenty of new avenues to an autistic individual who do have artistic talent and thereby provide them with an outlet to be more expressive. Some of the other benefits of autism art therapy are:

  • Improvement in the ability of imagine as well as think using pictures or symbolically
  • Improvement in the ability to recognize and respond to an individual's facial expressions and also handle sensory issues better
  • Art therapy is also known to improve the fine motor skills of those suffering from autism.

References:

  1. http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/art-therapy
  2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.


Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.
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