Art Therapy & Deafmutism –

Aadhar creates its new rainbow

Anxiety, agitated behavior, echolalia, sensitivity — these are regular feelings for many children who have deaf mutism. They can’t express their feelings vocally. Beyond Horizon Health and Social Circle (BHAAS), a non profit organization working in the field of health, environment and Ayurveda along with Creative Healing Art Therapy (CHAT) had organized free medical checkup and mental health assessment program through Art therapy at Aadhar Autistic School, Bibewadi on 10^th August 2010.

Having deaf mutism is mentally, physically, and emotionally stressful and many people living with it (particularly those on the “higher” end of the spectrum) can benefit from productive ways of expressing their feelings, says Pratibha Dande, the Headmistress of the Aadhar Autistic School.

The Centre for Creative Healing Art Therapy offers art therapy to autistic deaf children, where they can express thesmelves artistically outside of the therapeutic process. Since lack of communication is a key characteristic of deaf mutism, the ability to communicate through images is one of art therapy’s greatest strengths.

Art making has shown to enhance cognitive abilities, improve social skills, and encourage self-esteem in school-age children, says Dr.Atul Rakshe founder of BHAAS.

Creative Art Therapy Project encourages children with deaf mutism to develop their artistic skills. “Honestly, I think public awareness of art therapy for autistic children has to be improved in our country. If you don’t intervene at an early stage then you may miss opportunities to alleviate anxiety which may lead to attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and depression too,” said Dr. Vikas.

“Based on this medical health checkup and mental health assessment evaluation we are developing creative art activities to help reduce impulsive behaviors, enhance interpersonal behavior, and improve study skills and classroom performance. In students with sensory-motor deficits, we choose specific art tasks that help to expand fine and gross motor skills, support self-esteem, and increase independence.” says Dr.Kavita Jadhav, Physiotherapist from Hardikar hospital.

Drawing is a useful tool for both revealing and addressing visual-spatial deficits such as mental rotation and improving hand-eye coordination.

The pictures that the children draw had recurrent themes: dirty fish tanks, weak fishes, pollutants and toxins in water which were explained as water pollution caused by humans. This depicts their environmental awareness and understanding of ecosystem.

To be happy, to play in the sun, dream about flying planes and being astronauts, play football and cricket for Indian national team like other normal children are among the rights of autistic children too. Art projects provide a person with ASD with visual, concrete format in which to develop abstract thinking skills, express creativity, and increase flexibility .In addition to the art therapy project, there is other work underway to find ways to provide direct psychological counseling to both child and parent, in order to help parents guide their children through the ongoing disability.

On seeing an old man beautifully drawn by a student Dr.Vikas, who was observing the art therapy process in action asked him to tell something about his painting.

Yogesh, a 6^th grade student grinned, “This is my dearest grandfather, who used to love me so much.” On asking him how is your grandfather now, he sadly replied. “He is no more. He left us last week.” Yogesh’s answer provided an important clue about the reason why he was staring into space for long time nowadays and that could help teachers improve the process aimed at healing him.”

The art therapy process helps uncover the complex nature of the youngsters’ hearts, where the problems lie,” said Dr.Vikas Chothe, an art therapist and Ayurvedic physician.

In a “My life” activity, art therapist Dr.Vikas gave a presentation about lives of famous personalities like Bill Gates, Beethoven , Thomas Alva Edison, Mozart , Vincent van Gogh , Henry Ford etc and how they achieved great success inspite of being Autistic at some part of their lives. Then he asked them to draw what they wanted to do in their life, on a small sheet of paper.

The inspired, ignorant-looking children drew almost in unison about flying fighter planes, car racing, football, cricket, being chef, mathematicians, astronauts and businessmen. It is this evidence that convinces that these children can not only be good citizens in society but also be pioneers in different arenas of life.

All the seven doctors who participated in this camp were felicitated by Mrs.Pratibha Dande, headmistress of the school. About 108 children were examined and suitable recommendations were given for their overall health and personality development.

“The physical health checkup revealed that these children are more prone to gastrointestinal disorders, recurrent cough and cold, some children also had problems of bed wetting. Few children had dental and skin problems too.” said Dr.Aditi Kumbhar.

Early intervention of art therapy into a child with deaf mutism’s life is one helpful way to release stress and get to know who they are and hence a parent teacher meeting is arranged on 31^st August to increase awareness and remove myths about ASD(autism spectrum disorder) amongst the parents.

A three months Art therapy program is going to be conducted for children who showed anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and aggression in their mental health assessment.