The ocean of new faces surrounded me on the first day of art class, I asked if there was ever a time when they wanted to say something really important but felt they couldn’t? Hands shot up in the air. “Let’s talk about it” I responded, handing them their art supplies.” Here is your chance, you have a billboard to the world- and it is the size of a Saturn V Rocket!”
Visit The Dream Rocket Project.
Innovation and Autism
To have Autism is to have a keen visual sense. These children take in the world primarily through there eyes and their hands. They each have a stunning visual memory. They are motivated by their own desires and goals and are unwavering in their pursuit of knowledge and experience towards those goals. Because they communicate more through visual images and movement than words, painting becomes a perfect medium for them to expand upon their natural strengths: visual, hands on exploration and learning.
Visual arts set the context for learning self expression, self control and discipline, persistence towards goals, social collaboration, and decision making. Design is a complex critical thinking skill. Students who participate in the creative arts develop skills which will make them our future innovators. Can we even imagine the contributions these children will make if we allow them the autonomy to design their own goals and pursue them? As educators, parents and community members, we should be doing everything we can to remove obstacles to this innovation. We must see each child for their set of strengths and help them to develop their talents, rather than focusing on their weakness and potentially breaking their spirit.
-Joel Brandon Smith- Teacher, W.H. Councill Elementary, Birmingham City Schools
Thursday April 29, 2010 5:00-6:00 p.m. Shawna McGriff & Emily Horton present the Art Club Exhibit
Art and Autism
My class has had the fortunate opportunity to participate in an a visual arts project brought to us by Laurie Kramer from the Cultural Alliance. Laurie Deliberately reached out to make sure our class participated because she was aware that children with behavioral or communication differences are often left out of such enrichment due to potential difficulties. The interesting thing is that Laurie and I agreed that this is the group that stands to gain the most from such projects.
My students have classical autism. Most of them have extremely limited communication abilities either verbal or expressive. They take in the world almost exclusively through their eyes and their hands. With this in mind, it only made sense that they would stand to learn more from a painting project than just about any other experience I could present to them.
The table was prepared with brushes, sponges, paints, the medium, and even a Tonka truck at one time. Then we gave the students something they rarely experience: complete freedom: freedom from pressure to perform, from teacher anxiety, from the need for control and freedom from limits. We put no extra rules in place for the new activity. We didn’t limit their access to the paint or materials. It was up to them to decide what they would do with the materials.
The result was astounding. The same behavior issues we deal with all day virtually disappeared. No hitting, screaming, meltdowns, jumping out of the seat or even distraction. My least academically attentive student was focused on his work. In fact, I think I got my first glimpse of what Jeffrey Freed, author of Right-Brained Children in a Left Brained World, calls “hyperfocus”. These children who seem to live almost every moment in a state of distraction went into a zone more intense than I had even seen even when they obsess over things, which autistic children have a tendency to do. This focus wasn’t on an obsession. It was a brand new experience to them. If you have known an autistic child you know that brand new experiences are often difficult because they don’t always adapt to change easily. However, this change seemed welcome to them.
I observed as each student had a truly individual experience, each manipulating the materials in a different way. Some literally dumping gobs of a paint then working the paints together into specific colors and distributing it carefully and deliberately across the medium. As they gained momentum and began to realize that they were not going to be limited, the work only got more detailed, as the paint was poured. Layer went over layer as textures and colors were manipulated. Their eyes never left their work in the full 45 minutes they worked (an incredible duration for their normally brief attention spans). However I did hear some verbalizations that I had never heard from some of them before. “Mr. Smith check this out,” and “O.K. Here we go,” were used in context with no coercion to speak. I couldn’t help but wonder how many more spontaneous and contextual verbalizations I would get if we did similar activities on a daily basis. And was it the complete freedom and lack of pressure that prompted this kind of focus and spontaneous language?
Other new and spontaneous behaviors I observed were collaboration in each others’ pieces and attention to fine motor movements. In reflection I realize that I was watching these students do what they do best: teach themselves by exploring their world. When faced with no limits to their exploration, they proved to have seemingly unlimited attention. Skills that a teacher might toil for months to teach with limited success were suddenly being used appropriately in the context of this activity. I realize now that I may have learned as much as they did by simply watching. I have learned about parts of these children’s personalities that I didn’t know existed. I can’t help but wonder what the results would be if we teachers would focus our attention on creating the context for children to learn by their own exploration rather than simply trying to direct information (mostly verbal) into their heads. Thank you for a true, whole class, learning experience Mrs. Kramer.
–
Joel B Smith
W.H. Councill Elementary
I led the cows to pasture, but then started across the field with nothing but my frayed overalls and my dinner. I said goodbye to the freshly turned dirt, squelching under my bare feet and oozing between my toes. I said goodbye to the brown fields full of stubble and plants just beginning to grow, to the dew on blades of grass, the wide sky of promise and everything I had ever known. I didn’t know how I’d fare, but all the same I was going to the Forbidden Forest, never to be seen by anyone in my village again… To read more please visit www.angelaford.com
Angela Ford is an avid reader whose writings have been inspired by authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and George MacDonald. She is passionate about the fantasy-adventure genre and has been creating stories of her own for the past ten years.
Gwyn’s Tale is the first book to be published, but she is currently working on an epic series in hopes of delighting fantasy lovers everywhere. Angela resides in Tennessee where she enjoys sports and music when not reading and writing. www.angelaford.com
Application Deadline is: May 31, 2010
Scholarships are available to High school seniors graduating before July 1, 2010*… In addition, the art program at each winner’s school will receive a $500 grant and a large gift package of Krylon Artist Sprays and Adhesives… *Visit their website http://www.krylon.com/art/ for full details!
Painting with Poetry
http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Hip-Hop-Learning/b-VuSBG3i0ivf-3K6hvsbA.cspx
Source: cbs42.com
Hi you guys! Here’s the 411-
Noel Johnson (The White Oaks) volunteered his time and talent to collaborate with me on a special project I did with students during my art residency.
Beverley Tanner reported on the story- did you know I could rap? The 4th grade students at Powderly can bring it!
Thank you to the Birmingham City School System, The Cultural Alliance and The Community Foundation for providing this opportunity!
~Laurie Ann
Kids at Powderly Elementary are painting with poetry. Teachers are using hip hop as a means of teaching simile and metaphors. This is part of the Artist As Educators Initiative from the Cultural Alliance. To hear some of the rhymes watch the video clip.
