Art House for Kids at Lakeshore Mississauga: Art as Therapy

Showing posts with label Art as Therapy. Show all posts

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Circles

Art House for Kids at Lakeshore/Clarkson, Mississauga, Call 905 819 8142

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Autistic Forms Of Teaching And Tolerance

Understanding how autistic children learn is key to teaching them with the same intensity as you teach other children. This may seem like a straightforward idea, but autistic children learn so differently that understanding autism itself is a must when you teach autistic children. By becoming educated in the disorder, teachers can effectively learn to deal with autistic children and adults both in and out of the classroom, creating a more understanding world for everyone

Autistic children are often visual thinkers. Thus teaching by speaking will not be entirely effective. Teachers should combine pictures with words for the autistic child to fully comprehend the lesson. For instance, if you are teaching about the animals of the world, you should have a flash card with the word “mouse,” say the word aloud slowly and clearly, and show the child a picture of a mouse. Perhaps even bring a live mouse in for show and tell. Nouns may be easier to teach autistic children since verbs require action and can be more difficult in illustrating. If you are teaching autistic children words such as “sit” or “stand,” you should complete these actions when you teach the word. Also, because of the tendency to be visual, autistic children are often unable to follow long sentences. They cannot decipher the sequence and become confused. Thus, writing instructions can be very helpful when proctoring tests or quizzes.

As visual thinkers, autistic children can often fixate on a particular object or picture. If this is the case, try incorporating that object or picture into lesson plans. If the child likes planes, try using planes for visuals wherever you can in the lesson. For example, when teaching math, create word problems about planes to interest the child. Autistic children also tend to be artistic or musical, producing highly original drawings and showing above average abilities with instruments or voice. Set aside time in the day for the arts and encourage activities that the children enjoy.

Autistic children may also have trouble writing because of the control over their hands and movement. This is frustrating for both the child and the teacher. To reduce frustration, allow the child to use a computer. If you can do this, make sure that the keyboard and monitor are close together as the child may have difficulty remembering what he or she has typed recently.

By being open to teaching an autistic child to the best of your ability, you are not only giving him or her the best opportunities in life, but you are also being a good role model to the other children in the class. Do not allow an autistic child to ruin the learning experience for others, but rather incorporate his or her oddities into your lessons as much as possible. Creating a more prejudice-free classroom is the best gift you can give this child.

Original source: HERE

#Autism #Art

Art House for Kids at Lakeshore/Clarkson, #Mississauga, Call 905 819 8142

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Art and its incredible effects on mind - An insight

Author: Meena Chopra(Author, Artist Educator)

Pop art sculpture (Photo credit: paulafunnell)

Art House for Kids-Art as healer has always improved the quality of life and mind giving a third dimension to the human personality in many ways. Art as a medium to explore life within and without has always given immense enjoyment to human mind from ages.

Music, dance, painting and other forms of art have shown to have an incredibly significant and positive effect on children and adults both.

Starry Night by Van Gogh

Van Gogh's Chair (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Art therapy has been used to awaken the senses of underprivileged children through both the viewing and creating of art by them. Through their artistic endeavours they subconsciously associate themselves with their past. A connectivity is developed within and the memories come more freely from the deeper self since they are not elicited by direct objects, but indirect subconscious thought levels.

Sun Flower by Van Gogh

Because of many past experiences which get embedded deep down in the memory lane, many children begin to develop nervousness, anxiety, sleeping excessive or too little, a lack of verbal, social and language skills. Depending on the colour within a piece or its shape, or due to some other quality of the artwork, different emotions can be evoked by the observer unknowingly. Awakening of the senses through experimentation with the different types of art these children experience an untapped emotional world within themselves and with this association with their own inner being, they are able to show increased abilities in their cognitive, motor and social skills.

Many of the most famous pieces in the Pop art movement have utilized popular advertisements that could be easily tied to past memories. Pop art is known very well for its use of bright, vibrant colours.

Piccaso - Woman with Fan

Pop art is specifically tied to nostalgic thoughts since many of these works utilize old comics, food wrappers, advertisements and other types of art that people may recognize from past events in their lives. Pop art is especially useful in helping evoke past memories by getting down to stream of consciousness and gain insight through the use of bright colours. Nostalgic undertones, emotions and feelings surrounding past events can be easily conjured up and come on the surface of mind through the study of Pop art.

According to a 2010 study conducted by researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine, viewing paintings as opposed to photographs of similar objects evoked more of a sense of reward within the brain. Participants in the study were shown pieces from different artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso, and then they were showed photographs that depicted very similar objects. When they studied the brains of the participants through imaging technology, the ventral striatum, which is part of the reward system, became more strongly activated when the participant saw a painting rather than a photograph of a similar object. Even though momentarily, the memories they experience have shown to increase positive moods and improve their quality of life.

Pop art, for example, impacts different people in different ways. Clearly different aspects of art and the participation in the arts can have a profound and positive effect on the human mind and also give it a direction. Most forms of art are able to impact the human mind in one way or another Art with its strong ties to commercial consumerism has a power to evoke emotion in people. For that matter not only Pop art but any kind of can be used to help stimulate the recesses of the mind there by help in the process of resolving issues which are reflecting in the real life.

Beatles

Bright yellows often evoke a feeling of happiness, which is a very common color in Pop art pieces. For example, if someone is dealing with a childhood trauma, memories from childhood can help them figure out exactly what happened and how to move past it.

Self-Portrait, Spring 1887, Oil on pasteboard, 42 × 33.7 cm., Art Institute of Chicago (F 345). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Utilizing art to delve into past memories can be very therapeutic for many different reasons. Alzheimer's patients are often involved in music therapy, which has shown to help them recover and reconnect with the past memories therefore acting as a healer and giving a positive impact to the mind towards its improvement and wellbeing.

What is most important is to explore the impact that art has on the human mind and figure out how to positively harness the impact and minimize any negativity.