A critical analysis of how the therapeutic process of art can assist the affirmative development of children with severe learning difficulties MCP Annabelle Shaw SHA PTBM

My Aims for MCP To research in depth whether the process of art can transform the way children with severe learning difficulties progress emotionally To explore methods that can be used as a substitute for communication for those who cannot use language To influence change in the way the mainstream education system deal with mentally challenged children I want to make the general public aware that as humans we can learn through multiple intelligences – Iconic, linguistic, musical, logical & mathematical Make people aware that no matter the mental level everybody can be inspired by something Change the fact that the gap between being and artist and being an art therapist is too large. Social art therapy is the way forward! I aim to expose the level of effectiveness art therapy can have on a severely disabled child I plan to influence the way the healthcare system deal with children that do not quite fit in to this ‘system’ we have created

What research material have I been looking at? Currently I am in the middle of reading a book based around working with children in art therapy I have visited exhibitions that use sensory spaces as their key element – Welcome collection (Ann Veronica Janssens) & The Serpentine Pavilion 2015 which has a therapeutic effect due to the immersive feeling you get while being inside the pavilion I plan to visit The Camden Arts center to see Ben Rivers film work which is based around that of a schizophrenic Yayoi Kusana is an artist I want to look at in more detail as she herself is mental ill but very famous in the art world for her dot work Pippilotti Rist’s work with immersive spaces is interesting I am also looking at talks and conferences based around art therapy and social action (The Re-enchantment of art therapy) I am also reading a report on art therapy and working with the community in a more artistic way than art therapy way.

What have been the most important sources? Personally I don’t think there has been one specific source that has been majorly important in comparison to the others. The books based around art therapy and children have been very helpful as this relates specifically to my topic of severely disabled children. The debates on art therapy and social action have also been of great interest to me as I personally believe the gap between being an art therapist and being an artist is way to large. We need compromise. We need Social Art therapy.

Therapeutic Art

Art therapy

My focus topic Art therapy is a very broad topic and so I felt that I had to narrow it down. I decided to look specifically at children, mainly because that’s the sector in which I have done most of my work experience and have the most knowledge about and also for me it is the easiest way to get primary research. Having a brother with little down syndrome has also inevitably influenced my decision about basing my work mainly around people with severe learning difficulties. I have seen him grow up and mature emotionally and mentally through the use of art based education at his school for the severely disabled and so I am very pro this type of education being used in mainstream schools as well.

What are the key ideas or issues in my topic? I plan to structure my MCP through multiple titles - What is art therapy? - Mainstream Education today - How can art and multi-sensory teaching aid learning in all children not only severely disabled children? - How art is being used to help - Concentration, motivation and self-esteem levels in children who use multi-sensory learning - Recommendations, what I think is the best way to move forward from where we are now

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