artful INCLUSION

J ennifer* only likes arts and crafts if

she can draw her favorite charac-
ters, the Powerpuff Girls. She
is placed into a regular classroom with lit-
tle extra assistance.
Ann Fox has taught and
draws them with an extraordi- worked with children with
nary enthusiasm and light- autism for over 30 years.
ning-quick pace. But, if She is currently a para-
she isn't allowed to educator, assisting
draw the Powerpuff students with
Girls, Jennifer gets autism in integrat-
upset and cries for a ed classrooms at
long time. Heatherwood Ele-
Such tantrums can mentary School in
hinder the learning Boulder, Colo. "Art is
experience of Jennifer an outlet to be expres-
and other children affect- sive. The kids feel so
ed by autism. Patience and good to see their work
support for Jennifer, as well on display. They love to
as the other children at New see their creations on the
Horizons in Autism, located in wall with all the other kids,"
Monroe, N.J., is never-ending. says Fox.
The Individuals with Disabilities Edu- Modification is a large part of the art
cation Act defines autism as "a developmen- program at Heatherwood. Following direc-
tal disability significantly affecting verbal by Krista McDevitt tions unerringly can be difficult for children
and nonverbal communication and social interaction, gener- with autism, but even the smallest accomplishment can
ally evident before age 3, which adversely affects a child's bring a huge smile to the face of a child.
performance." Many children with autism are mainstreamed "I work with an 8-year-old named Tommy*, he has autism
into regular classrooms, and an art environment can be chal- and was born with a small brain. He functions at a low level
lenging, yet incredibly stimulating for the children. and can barely speak," says Fox. 'Tommy is extremely
Often, children with autism learn visually and are unpredictable and gets excited easily. His hands shake. He
enriched by classrooms with bright, colorful pictures and is self-stimulated and needs a lot of attention from the paras.
vivid images. Allowing the kids to be creative, especially in One day in art class when children were drawing pictures of
the art environment, is one of the most important aspects of a place they would fly to if they could. Tommy got scared
teaching children with autism. and said he didn't want to fly anywhere. He couldn't under-
"It's important to leave all projects open for interpreta- stand the make-believe aspect of the project."
tion," says Charleen Quella, a classroom aid for the Dou- Instead of flying. Fox asked him where he would go if he
glass Developmental Disability Center at Rutgers Universi- could hop. Fox knew he loved his grandmother, so she drew
ty, and an after-school teacher at New Horizons in Autism. a picture of him hopping to his grandmother's with a sen-
"It's all about making the kids feel good about themselves; tence underneath, "I want to hop to Nana's." Tommy traced
positive reinforcement for even the smallest accomplish- the picture and colored it.
ment is necessary," she adds. "For Tommy to make it through this project was an aniaz-
A wide range of functioning exists. As far as children's ver- ing accomplishment," says Fox. "His mother felt so proud
bal and literary abilities are concerned, with Asperger syn- and, while parents don't expect perfection, they do an impor-
drome, a mild form of autism, the child has no difficulty speak- tant part in strengthening the child's self-esteem, no matter
ing, yet may have trouble reading and/or listening to long how modified the project is."
strings of words. On the other end of the spectrum, some chil- Routines play a vital role in the child's life. They need to
dren with severe autism cannot speak, read or write. know what will occur, so they can feel comfortable. "Keep
"Art class has to be incredibly individualized because of the same basic routine for the kids, but change the specifics.
the many levels," says Quella. "While some children have Let the child know it is okay to change, and keep them as
no problem drawing a picture and doing intricate activities, relaxed as possible during the lesson," says Quella.
others have trouble even holding a crayon." Art classes open the door for expression. In art, children
All children in special education programs in the United with autism are able to expand their horizons, with the help
States are required to follow an Individualized Education and understanding of teachers. A basic routine that can be
Program (IEP). The ultimate goal is to mainstream the chil- altered in small ways helps to keep a child at ease, while
dren. The IEP teaches from the most invasive way first and allowing for artistic freedom.
gradually works toward less restrictive methods. Expression can be drawing nothing but the Power-
The first level is hand-over-hand. In this method, the puff Girls or hopping to Nana's, but every triumph is
teacher physically holds the hands of the child and together another step forward. In the classroom, every project is
they draw a picture. The next stage is gestural prompts, in a masterpiece. .
which the teacher will place her hands near the child's and
motion all activities such as writing a letter without actually When she wrote this article, Krista McDevitt was a senior at
moving the crayon for the child. In verbal prompts, the child Rutgers University majoring in Journalism and Media Stud-
works on a task with verbal directions and assistance from ies, and minoring in Psychology.
the teacher. The final stage is integration, in which the child * Names have been changed.

16 a r t s & a c t i v i t i e s | november 2004