National Art Education Association

Celebrating the Artmaking of Children with Autism

Author(s): GILLIAN J. FURNISS
Source: Art Education, Vol. 61, No. 5 (September 2008), pp. 8-12
Published by: National Art Education Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20694751
Accessed: 03-11-2015 04:34 UTC
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the

Celebrating
BYGILLIAN FURNISS
^
of Children

(|H?
with
AutlSITl

article addresses

This

of some

the art process

celebrated

artists with

such as

autism,

Nadia (1977), StephenWiltshire (1987,1995), and Jessica Park (1967, 2001). There is
a limited amount
with

autism

of literature and

who

talent

demonstrate

that 1 out of every

reported

research

150 children

and

on children

in the field of art education

skill

is diagnosed

in the visual
with

arts. A

recent

in the United

autism

study
States

in artmaking, some children with autism demonstrate

engaged
repeti
and a narrow area of interest. The likelihood
is high that an art teacher may

(Carey, 2007). When

tive behavior
have

a student with

autism

in an

inclusive

some

art classroom

for
Artmaking
to learn in the arts, as well as an oppor
(Furniss, 2007).

children with autism may be an opportunity

tunity to learn other subjects through the arts (Furniss, 2008).

What IsAutism?
Drawing of Mufasa from
the Disney movie, The
Lion King, by Benjamin, a

13-year-old with
Asperger's Syndrome.

is a pervasive

Autism

developmental

disorder,

and one

of theAutism SpectrumDisorders (ASD). In the 1940s,

Dr. Leo Kanner was thefirstto identify
autism in theUS
(Park,2001; Frith,2003). Although once considered tobe
caused bypsychopathology,it isnow accepted tohave
the criteria

neurological

for diagnosis

origins. Today,
in social communication
skills, impair
impairments
ments
in interpersonal
skills, and repetitive and
restrictive

sensory

or interests. Other minor

activities

that may manifest

are

information

are

symptoms

in processing
hypersensitivities
such as sound, touch, or sight. Often

individualswith autismdisplaydelays and/or impair

ments

in speech and
sameness
and dislike

language
changes

abilities. Many prefer

in routine. Children with

Asperger's Syndromeoftenhave good speech and

languageabilities,butmay find itchallengingto establish
friendships

with peers

(www.autism-society.org).

The Artmaking ofChildren with Autism

Artmaking

is a significant,
meaningful,

and pleasur

able process formany young childrenwith autism (Seife,

1977; Sacks, 1995;Kellman, 1999;Park, 2001), aswell as
fortypicalchildren (Burton, 1981;Lowenfeld& Brittain,
1987;Hurwitz & Day, 1995). The artmakingofyoung

children with
process

autism

demonstrates

of self-expression,

a mental

imagination,

and physical

and creativity

(Sacks, 1995;Pring,Hermelin, Buhler,& Walker, 1997;

Kellman, 1999;Park,2001; Hermelin, 2001). The art

product acts as tangible evidence of what these children

are
thinking about during the art process. Often these
as visual
of thoughts are
representations
drawings
or
of a narrow
repetitive obsessions
preoccupations

interest(Seife,1977; Sacks, 1995;Park, 2001).

has been

There

over a

conducted

an extensive
long period

amount

of research

of time on

the artistic

developmentof typicalchildren in thefieldof art

education (Burton, 1981;Lowenfeld& Brittain,1987;
Hurwitz
amount

& Day, 1995). However,

there is a limited
of research on the artmaking of children with

autism (Seife,1977;Pring et al., 1997;Hermelin, 2001).

Therefore,

it is critical

formore

research

to be conducted

in thefieldof art education to address the learningneeds

of these children with

Many

individuals

autism.

with

autism

demonstrate

a remark

able abilityto excel at visual spatial skillsbut often lack

adequate verbal skills (Grandin, 1995). Some young
individualswith autismwho demonstrateartisticability

that are associated with the art

speak, using words
process. Stephen Wiltshire
(www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk),
the celebrated British artist with autism, was mute as a
of or
child, and exhibited "virtually no understanding
interest in the use of language"
(Sacks, 1995, p. 197).
However,

Dr. Oliver

Sacks witnessed

at some

later point

theyoung StephenWiltshire requesting"paper" inorder

todraw (Sacks, 1995).

ARTEDUCATION/SEPTEMBER2008

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Jessica

Park:

is an artist with

Jessica Park
speech

and

autism. As a

she demonstrated

(Park, 1967;Park, 2001). Throughouther

in
childhood,
Jessica Park engaged
at home and in the art classroom
artmaking
of her local public schools
inMassachusetts.
She frequently made drawings and paintings
that, as her mother

Clara

Claiborne

Park

explained,
visually recorded her unique
mental processes
(Park, 2001).
Clara

numbers,

she created

a
delay in
and
language development,
in social communication
skills
impairments

young

child,

colors, and common

objects
complex,
intricately ordered
systems, some of which she used, it seemed,
to structure her world, and some of which

"From

A Young Artistwith Autism

Claiborne

Park has spent her life

for her daughter with autism to
advocating
receive a public school education,
supporting
other parents of children with developmental

shemerely playedwith, endlesslydelighted

by their order" (Park, 2001, p. 69).

for young Jessica Park was a
Artmaking
creative process
that was extremely mean

to her.
ingful and pleasurable
Although
were art skills that Jessica Park needed
learn, there were

also natural

there
to

talents she

Jessica Park is a professional

on
displays her acrylic paintings
her own website
and
(www.jessicapark.com)

such as those

by Pure Vision Arts (www.

an art studio and exhibit
purevisionarts.org),
artists
with
for
space
developmental

disabilities inNew YorkCity.Clara Claiborne

Park described her adult daughters painting

of a church:

as
proved
innately such
hyper-sensi
tivity to color and patterns, and a sense of
in composition
(Park, 2001).
proportion
an adult,

art exhibits,

sponsored

"With her sable brush

and steady
every brick, every
curlicue of the Corinthian
capital, every nick
in the old stone,
and breakage
accurately,

hand

to have

Now

at various

she has rendered

realistically, recognizably.
Except that the
is a vivid, penetrating,
astonishing
"Bizarre becomes
green." Park continued,
capital

original
surreal"

in the
language of art, becomes
(Park, 2001, p. 4).

artist who

disabilities,and educating thepublic about

autism.

is one of the founding members

She

of Autism

Societv

of America

(www.

Children
withautismmust be taught

autism-society,
org). She has

artmaking;
theywill not learnartmaking
simplybyobservingothers.

lectured frequently
and written
numerous

articles

on autism.

Park

is

theauthorofThe
Siege:A Family'sJourneyintotheWorld ofan
AutisticChild (1967, 1982) and Exiting
Nirvana: A Daughters LifewithAutism
(2001). She isa remarkableindividual
because

she transformed

what might

have

been a familytragedyintoa familytriumph.

There were many significant individuals

who played an important role in the artistic
of young Jessica Park. Her
development
mother
and other significant caregivers
and
classmates,
including companions,

school teachers taught her how to

engage in artmaking using various art
materials.
Park explained
that children with
public

autismmust be taughtartmaking;theywill
not learnartmakingsimplyby observing

others. Over

time, Jessica was

able

to express

her unique thoughts,feelings,and life

experiences

in her artwork.

Park

stated,

Portrait of David Park by Jessica Park,

a young artistwith autism. Reprinted
fromClara Claiborne Park's Exiting
Nirvana, 2001, Back Bay Books.

SEPTEMBER 2008 /ARTEDUCATION

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Right: A drawing of Royal Crescent,

Bath, England by Stephen Wiltshire,
a young artistwith autism.
Reprinted fromDrawings, 1987,
London, J.M.Dent & Sons, Ltd.

Below: A drawing of cat and horse

by Nadia, a young artistwith autism.
Reprinted from L. Seife, Nadia:A
Case of Extraordinary Drawing Ability
inan Autistic Child, 1977, Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich.

More Examples of Artwork

the artwork of individuals
Many describe
more
with autism as
than merely a
being
a
but
rather
representation,
unique
interpre
tation, of the world

around

the celebrated

Wiltshire,

them. Stephen
artist with

British

demonstrated
that when
inspired he
more
in a
than just
reproduce
drawing
he had observed
but rather transform

autism,
could
what

the images

into "meaningful,
coherent
2001,
(Hermelin,
representations"
art
p. 147). Stephen attended a prestigious
school in England where he was able to
acquire skills to enhance his natural artistic
pictorial

talent (Pring et al., 1997). Today,

the artwork

of StephenWiltshire isexhibitedand sold at

The StephenWiltshire Gallery inLondon
(www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk).
More

than 10 years ago, Dr. Oliver

Sacks

in

An Anthropologist
On Mars (1995), asked the
as a
Is there such a
significant question:
thing
'distinctive autistic art'? He pointed out the
in the
accuracy
perceptual
drawings of

StephenWiltshire (Sacks, 1995). Sacks refered

toWiltshire's

as 'most unchildlike
drawings
1995, p. 199) and "accurate, but not in
the least mechanical?on
the contrary, they
(Sacks,

"Our Dog Lambert" by Jacob, a young

artistwith autism. Produced at
computer graphics summer camp.

10

ART EDUCATION/SEPTEMBER 2008

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Herdrawingsrevealedthatshehad "a senseof space,an abilitytodepictappearances

and shadows,a senseofperspectivesuchas themost giftednormalchildmightonly
developat threetimesherage" (Sacks,1995,p. 194).
were

full of energy, spontaneity,

oddity,

life"

(Sacks, 1995,p. 196). StephenWiltshire

The primary function of spontaneous

for some children with autism
artmaking

pied with drawing landmarkbuildings in

London (Sacks, 1995).When asked ifhe
likedVenice during a childhood drawing
"I prefer Chicago,"
because
responded,
saw so many of his favorite American

may

A Case

of Extraordinary

cars

years,
illustrations

Drawing

3Vi years old, Nadia

suddenly
to draw horses, roosters, and cats from
illustrations,

depicting

them

in a

way thatpsychologiststhoughtimpossible
fora child her age (Sacks, 1995,p. 194).This
book

in terms of its
understanding
in
itdocuments
general. However,

is dated

of autism

that she was

in perspective,
unusual
revealed

to draw horses,

able

for example,

and profile?all
so young. Her
drawings

motion,

for a child

"a sense of space, an

and shadows,
appearances

ability to depict
sense of perspective

such as the most

gifted

normal childmight only develop at three

times her age"

(Sacks,

1995, p. 194).

Seifepointed out thattheartisticallygifted

preferred to draw with a black pen.

to work with paint were unsatisfac
Attempts

Nadia

tory for her and she soon grew frustrated

with the medium.
did not
Likewise, Nadia
seem to enjoy
in color. She seemed
working
to prefer to work with a black pen because
of
its exactness

of line and

its ability

to convey

detail. Seife tookdetailed notes and video

art process?her
for
taped Nadias
preference
art medium,
subject matter, artistic surface
in
(such as paper and cardboard),
sequence
creating
drawing
addition

an

as
image (such
beginning with
the neck when drawing a horse),
in
to how
drew
frequently Nadia

(Seife, 1977).

drawn

that

made

for her own

communicate

experience

intentional,

though

satisfaction,

not to

but to record

it...
...

eager communication

layfar in thefuture.The books,with their

successive

layers of explanations,

allowed

us

glimpsesof theworld within" (Park,2001,

p. 98).
Art educators
that the visual arts
recognize
are a form of communication
(Efland, 2002).
formany young children
Artmaking
a way of
communicates
understanding
other forms of communication?such
and

language?do

that
as

not (Lowenfeld,

1987;Hurwitz& Day, 1995;Efland,2002).

are some experts who refer to the

artwork of children with autism as a form of

There

communication
1999; Evans,

(Pring et al., 1997; Kellman,

2001). Art educator Dr. Julia

Kellman (1999) argued thatchildrenwith

are able to
a visual vocabu
"develop
seems to both create and express
that
lary
for the child" (Kellman,
1999, p. 2).
meaning
autism

Visual Thinking

Dr. Temple Grandin

(1995),
tioning adult with autism who

at Colorado
individuals
Grandin
based

Grandin

high-func
is a professor
State University, wrote thatmany
with autism are visual thinkers.

a
explains that she is not
language
thinker but rather a visual thinker. She

in her book
Thinking in Pictures, "I
are like a second
think in pictures. Words
1995, p. 19). She
language tome" (Grandin,
how other
argued that after questioning
stated

information from their

people "accessed
memories"
1995, p. 20), she came
(Grandin,

are

how
explained
in a particular

she processes
way because

she

thinker. She stated, "My memories

inmy imagination
in strict
appear

order, and the images I

chronological
are
visualize
always specific" (Grandin,

1995,

p. 28). She explained thathermind has a

"video library," which contains a visual image

for everything she has heard, read, or seen.

When Grandin thinksof a dog, she thinksof

a
that as a
specific dog. Grandin
explained
very successful designer of livestock
facilities she translates this
handling
into
power of imagination
1995). Grandiris
(Grandin,
architectural
drawings of the

extraordinary
use

practical
detailed

she designed were

at the conference Pure Visionaires:

lifestock facilities
exhibited

on the
in New York City,
Spectrum
Pure
Vision
Arts.
sponsored
by

Artists

Visual-Spatial

Memory Skills
Some

and Visual

children with

autism

demonstrate

high levelsofvisual-spatial skills (Wing,

2001) and visualmemory (Sacks, 1995).
These

alternative

strengths

are sometimes

revealedby young childrenwith autism

(Seife, 1977; Sacks,

during the art process
1995; Kellman,
1999; Park, 2001). Dr. Sacks
stated

skills far
individuals.

1995, p. 25).

(Grandin,

images"

usually

in pencil

"normal"

She explained
that adults with autism who
able to speak about their thought process
state that most of them "think in visual

is a visual

often visually represented her life experi

ences. Park
"[Jessicas] books were
explained,

speech

that she had

frequently

that her visualization

those of most

information

are

in

represented
artmaking
or preoccupations.
For many
Jessica made picture books with

about

magazine

as

thoughts
obsessions

he

British girl of Ukrainian

descent with autism
who demonstrated
artistic abilities. When

began

own
thought for its
the visual thought

toothers (Park,2001). Often thesevisual

Ability inan AutisticChild,Dr. Lorna Seife

(1977) documented thedrawingof a young

she was

be to record a visual

sake, not to communicate

while visitingthere(Sacks, 1995).

In Nadia:

to understand
exceeded

Communication

began to draw when he was about 5 years

old. By about the age of 10, he was preoccu

expedition throughEurope, Stephen

Artmaking as Visual

that Stephen Wiltshire's

drawings
a
visual memory,
"prodigious
seemed able to take in the most

demonstrate
which

complex
seconds,

buildings,
and to hold

or

in a few
cityscapes,
in the
them inmind,

minutest

it seemed,
detail?indefinitely,
the least apparent effort" (Sacks,
the visual memory
of
1995, p. 199). Unlike
typical individuals, many artists with autism

without

do not generalize
images they have seen, but
rather can retrieve specific details of an
(Sacks, 1995).
object with great accuracy

StephenWiltshire "didnotmake any sketch

SEPTEMBER 2008 /ARTEDUCATION

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11

or outline, but
one
just started at
edge of the
... and
across it, as if
moved
paper
steadily
some tenacious
inner image or
transcribing
visualization"
(Sacks, 1995, p. 205). Sacks
wrote

about

Stephen to draw
a few times
from memory

how he asked
s house

the author

several years. The result was that each

was similar in
respects but
major
drawing
a
different in detail?one
drawing had
in the front
flagpole
yard, another had two
over

autism, but to our overall

the function

of
understanding
for all humans. As

of artmaking

Park

with autism]
"[Individuals
explained,
us to
perceive differently, think
our
differently, feel differently, to stretch

It is critical

for all students,

including
such as
developing

are

window

(Sacks,

those with

atypically
autism, to have

experience

at school.

1995).

Appreciating an Alternative Life

ismuch

with

autism

to be learned

about

how diverse

from artists

to our

understanding

It is also important
in the field of art education

practitioners

Preservice

the human

can be,
including talent and
more about the
intelligence. Learning
function of artmaking
for artists with autism

condition

not only contributes

to an art

for
to

and appreciate
the artistic
acknowledge
abilities of some children with autism.

Experience
There

access

of

and

learn about

inservice

art teachers

lessons must

to

techniques
autism who are

in their art classroom.

be designed

skills

them to use
to express

The goal of theart teachershouldbe to

encourage

Art

all art students

to reach

their

fullestpotentialby giving themevery

to succeed. Only then can these

opportunity
children be assessed
for their
accurately
creative abilities.
Dr. Gillian

J. Furniss

isAdjunct

Professor

and SUNY
E-mail:

so that the

at New

Paltz.

gillian.furniss@gmail.

com

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(2002). Art and cognition: Integrating the visual arts in the curriculum. New York: Teachers College Press.
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Evans, K., & Dubowski,

Publishers.

Jessica Kingsley

Frith, U. (2003). Autism: Explaining the enigma. London: Blackwell Publishers.

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(1995). Children and their art:Methods for the elementary school. FortWorth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
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Psychology, 1(2),

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1065-1076.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Iwish to express my gratitude toDr. JudithM. Burton, my doctoral advisor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Clara Claiborne Park,
for their support, guidance, and encouragement. Iwould also like to express my appreciation toDr. Pamala Rogers, Director of Pure Vision Arts.

12

at

theSchool ofEducation,Adelphi University

effective intervention

to best teach children with

mainstreamed

need

talents and

that enables

(Furniss,
over time
2006) and to subsequently
expand
their visual repertoire. All children learn in
multiple ways and have particular
strengths.

Implications forTeaching Art

those who

an art lesson

their preferred art materials

and
their unique visual preoccupations

even appreciate,
to apprehend,
imaginations
an alternative world"
(Park, 2001, p. 24).

on the first floor rather than one

their artistic

demonstrate
with

challenge

windows

objective is appropriatefortheirtypeof
learning.These childrenwill bemost likelyto

ART EDUCATION/SEPTEMBER2008

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