NAEAnews. “SPECIAL NEEDS,” October, 2003, Vol. 45 (5) p.13.

Lucky NAEA Convention goers have seen and heard Susan D. Loesl describe her work with students with disabilities. Loesl, ATR-BC, is an adaptive art specialist/art therapist (Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; <loeslsd@milwaukee.k12.wi.us>) and works with both students and teachers. Loesl brings fourteen years of experience and as many adaptive devices as she can fit into her car or suitcases to her presentations. This column interviews Loesl for those unable to attend her sessions.

Describe the students you teach.
The students range in age from early childhood through high school age. They have various levels of disability, physical, cognitive, emotional and social issues that have impeded their success in the classroom.

Describe your work with them.
The arts are where many students with disabilities are first included. Many art teachers do not feel adequately prepared to work with students with a variety of needs. My primary role is to assist art teachers in adapting the curriculum, media, and tools so that students in self-contained or inclusive settings can access the art activity with their peers.

Some of my favorite work is with a class of students with moderate to severe physical handicaps. By adapting the materials to their unique needs, they are able to show their vision of the world, just like their peers. There is such a joy when a student with minimal mobility is able to paint, all by himself, on a canvas with an adapted paintbrush, a tabletop easel, and acrylic paint in a container that doesn't spill! The intense focusing and pride in accomplishing a work of art can hardly be expressed in words. Teachers, with tears in their eyes, say that they never saw the student create art. They are excited to see what the next activity will bring out.

How do you work with the art teachers?
At times, I model teach an activity to provide ideas about how to set up a classroom and activity so students with disabilities can be as independent as possible. Other times, I lead the class so that the art teacher can focus on the needs of the student(s) without having to orchestrate the rest of the class. This support works well for the art teacher with minimal experience or time to focus on adapting media or tools for the students.

I also have provided district-wide staff training that focuses on how mild to severe disabilities may manifest themselves in the student artist in class. Many times the issue is access to the materials, for example, differently shaped scissors, handgrips used for grasping, or oversized paint pallets.

What suggestions would you make for art teachers?
Many students can engage in the art-making process with their peers if simple adaptations are provided, such as taping the artwork to the table, or using crayons that are flattened on one side so they do not roll away. Alternative media may be a solution if a student doesn't have the strength to use traditional clay. Various doughs can provide sensory stimulation. Sand can be added for texture and scented markers can provide color without using glazes. Other ways to access art include the use of tabletop easels and art tools with extensions to add length or gripping surfaces.

Sometimes support for the teacher comes by training the student's assistant. Amazing things can happen when a sensitive assistant understands and appreciates the student's choice making through partial participation. Often, the hand over hand technique minimizes the student's potential for creative expression. Some students take a long time to physically motor through a part of the art process. Patience may be at a premium, but it is better to give support only as the student needs it instead of moving in, assuming to know what the student is capable of doing. Students once thought to have little potential for creating art have created some very exciting pieces.

Adapting art for students with disabilities takes time and a sense of the process of art making. Which part of the art process is really important to the activity? If the paper pieces are pre-cut this time, because the focus is on creating a collage, won't there be another time when the skill of cutting can be the focus? If the activity is printmaking and the student cannot cut, even with Softcut ™ material, can't another student cut out the images? The student with a disability can focus on the processes of getting the image to the final print.

Art teachers need not be intimidated by the adaptations their students may need. By focusing on the process, they will find exciting ways to re-look at art lessons for all their students.

SED/Arts Organization   |   SED/Arts References   |   NAEA Special Needs Issues Group   |  CEC Special Interest Group for Teachers of the Arts