Art Therapy in Special Needs Education: A Case of Autism in New Horizon Special School in Accra
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2017-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
KNUST
Abstract
Inclusive Education (IE) has become very necessary in education today, and the
increasing prevalence of cases such as autism and the fear of autistic individuals
missing out on quality education to assist them attain their full potential as they
get integrated into society cannot be denied. Unfortunately, the Special
Educational Needs Policy of Ghana does not include a curriculum for teaching
autistic children. Autism schools and teachers in Ghana are compelled to use
curriculums that may not suit the needs and learning styles of autistic learners or
adopt curriculums of other jurisdictions. This study investigated how autism
teachers teach and autistic learners imbibe instructions, and the therapies used at
the New Horizon Special School at Cantonments in Accra, Ghana. The study also
explored the world and characteristics of autistic learners and how they function,
and how the inclusion of Art Therapy as an intervention may be helpful in
teaching autistic learners at the New Horizon Special School, as studies have
proved its efficacy in this regard. The research being qualitative was quasiexperimental and descriptive in nature, and adopted observation and interview as
data collection instruments. These helped to identify and describe the
characteristics of autistic learners at the school, the instructional strategies and
existing therapies employed in the school, and their influences or impact on the
education of Numeracy and Literacy. It also facilitated the description of Art
therapy sessions, processes and outcomes on the behaviour and coping skills of
autistic pupils were also described. Purposive, cluster and simple random
sampling techniques were adopted for the study; sampling 21 participants
comprising 9 autistic pupils each in the senior and junior autism classes, 2 autism
teachers and 1 sensory coach. The study identified art therapy as a worthy
inclusion in the education of autistic individuals. Therefore, a series of art therapy
sessions were conducted for autistic learners in groups and individually during
which their behavioural differences were observed. The art of the autistic learners
was interpreted for the development of an art therapy inclusive teaching model for
autistic individuals. The model was pre-tested and was found to enhance the
communication and personality of the autistic learners while improving classroom
management. Typically, aggressive and hyperactive pupils had better control of
their emotions through art therapy in Numeracy and Literacy education.
Therefore, Art therapy was proposed as a worthy intervention in the education of
autistic learners at New Horizon Special School
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN ART EDUCATION