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The Importance of the Arts in Special Education | Alexandra Novik-Khamis

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Imagine being filled with emotion, yet unable to express how you feel. That’s what many children with disabilities face. Through art, however, all children may freely express their feelings.
As an art teacher for students with special needs, I see the value of art in my classroom every day.
Children who have problems with speech, language and motor skills struggle with verbalizing what they feel and need. This is frustrating for the children, upsetting for their parents and challenging for their educators.
While art is important for all children, it’s crucial for kids with special needs. Artistic activities directly exercise and strengthen the cognitive and physical skills that generally challenge special needs children, such as oral, tactile, visual, sensory and motor skills.
The special needs and emotionally disturbed children I teach nearly always have issues with appropriate self-expression. They lack the self-confidence, social skills and verbal capabilities to suitably express themselves. Couple this with learning disabilities, behaviors that do not age appropriate and problems developing and maintaining relationships, and you have a syndrome mix that can cause children to fail academically.
But, art represents one amazing subject, at school and home, at which children with special needs can succeed. Along with being a catalyst for skill development, the art teaches life lessons through a therapeutic method. One lesson is the power of planning. For special needs students, the planning that drives the artistic process is more important than the finished work. The challenge is to emphasize the process and eliminate feelings of failure when finished works don’t live up to students’ intentions.
The arts can level the playing field, because children with difficulties in academic subjects might excel at drawing, painting, acting or dancing and singing.
Not only will the arts provide the necessary skills for students with disabilities to express themselves, good art programs can lead to jobs in the arts industry.
More importantly, the arts bring children and teens with disabilities great joy and build high self-esteem. The arts might keep a disengaged student from dropping out of school—and help them to improve in academic areas.
Even the most severely disabled student can, through their senses, appreciate the joy of the arts.
Students of all ages and abilities are shortchanged when they don’t have access to the arts.. But, for students with disabilities, the loss of art programs is especially stifling.
Due to many of the school reforms affecting education, many public schools have discontinued art programs. Students with disabilities may or may not get to experience the arts, especially if the school they attend obsesses over high-stakes testing. Because the arts cannot be tested, schools don’t make the arts a priority. The talent lying within a student with disabilities could be lost forever.
Special education is full of data and goals; “extras” such as fine or performing arts often fall by the wayside in the drive to achieve those goals. But more and more teachers, therapists and organizations are recognizing the fact that some students learn most effectively through the arts.
For example, there are cases of non-verbal students who can sing before they learn to talk. Social and adaptive skills can be taught through drama, as demonstrated in the Friendship Circle’s drama program, in which participants write and perform their own musical. Science, math and other academic subjects can be made more accessible through drawing, painting, sculpting and mixed media. And that’s just the beginning. The arts may offer a quantifiable strategy to develop skills and knowledge for students in special education.
With art, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s simply created, shared and appreciated. To that end, embracing children’s work is an essential part of art education for children with special needs. Likewise, showcase their work by displaying their creations around the house. This gives children a sense of pride and accomplishment, builds a “can-do” attitude and enhances feelings of self-worth— notably when kids see other people admiring their work.
If your child’s school doesn’t host a student art show, suggest the school start doing so, and perhaps offer to help with organizing the event. An art show gives children an opportunity to see their work mounted, framed, displayed and admired.
When your child works on a project, remember that showing instead of telling keeps children focused and enthusiastic. Set kids up with ample art supplies, and sit with them to work on projects together.
Go beyond crayons and paints. Incorporate tactile materials, such as clay, dough, beads, and magnets, into projects. Working with a variety of materials helps children improve hand-eye coordination and motor skills, and using the hands is therapeutic.
In a 2011 lecture for the National Art Education Association, special educator and art educator Beverly Levett Gerber said, “Art education for students with special needs is filled with ‘No’s’ – ‘No money, no time, no space, no materials, sorry – never done that before.’ Special education taught me the value of working with others…Together, art educators and special educators can be a powerful voice.”
So don’t accept “no” for an answer. Get creative today.

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