Sharon Cole

Second semester at the University

of Florida.
Williamsburg, Virginia is my home
that I share with my husband Kirk
and daughter Katelynn.
New art teacher working as a
preschool instructional assistant in
a special education classroom.
My passion is teaching children
with special needs to overcome
their challenges through art.
 CONNECTING ART EDUCATION
WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION:
TEACHING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

❖ Roots of art education and

special education

❖ Conception and impacts

of legislation and policy

❖ School implementation
and teacher practice

❖ Community agencies

❖ Contemporary challenges “The arts are a right, not a privilege”

and professional
(Allrutz, 1974, p. 28)
experiences
 KEY FINDINGS

Roots of art education and special education started here:

 1860: Educator Elizabeth Peabody opened first US kindergarten

*Promoted sensory activities, spontaneous play
*All children deserve and benefit kindergarten experience

 Kindergarten and art education principle connections:

*Develop creativity, manipulating materials, invigorate senses

 1940s-1970s: Art educator Viktor Lowenfeld’s child studies

*Art provides significant sensory stimulation, creative growth
*Art unlocks creative powers of children with disabilities
*Methodologies recognized and central to art education
 KEY FINDINGS Continued…
Conception and impacts of legislation and policy:

 1950s-1960s: Federal and advocacy agencies develop regulatory guidance

*State laws excluded education to 1 in 5 students with disabilities

 1973, 1975: Section 504 Rehabilitation Act and

1975 Public Law 94-142: Education for the Handicapped Act
*Art and gen-ed accommodate ages three to twenty-one
*Art is excluded from specialized instruction

 1973: Resolution passed on Accessibility to the Arts for the Handicapped

*FIRST TIME the arts are advocated by government agencies for children
with disabilities

 1990, 1997: IDEA places individual before the disability

*Excludes art education from key areas of special education:
related services, cultural facilities, specific plans for art ed responsibilities,
arts education in IEP planning, in-service art educators
 KEY FINDINGS Continued…
Roots of the VSA: International Organization on Arts and Disability

 1974: Founded by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith as the National

Committee‒Arts for the Handicapped

 Initial mission: Provide arts opportunities to all handicap people in general

public and connect special education and art education groups

 Resource for art educators to fulfill needs of inclusion students

 1976: Began nationwide Very Special Arts Festivals for public awareness
through workshops, exhibitions, performances to people with disabilities

 1985: Updated mission to include people with all abilities and advocated for
talented/working artists with disabilities

 1986: Art therapist and Educator Frances Anderson published first nationwide
study that evaluated the efficacy and caliber of VSA with solid data
 CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES OF
TEACHING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

 Educators from multiple disciplines, NOT ART, collaborate on IEP teams

 Recent case studies suggest art and special educators can create multi-
faceted and effective accommodations for students with disabilities

 2001: No Child Left Behind Act’s standardized testing requirements threaten

to downgrade arts programs in core curriculums

 Art education training lacks for adaptive and flexible learning environments:
*Special education practices: adaptive art methods
*Universal Design for Learning: choice-based practice, flexible spaces
*Longer field experiences teaching to students with disabilities

 My practice and experiences in a public preschool SPED classroom:

*learned more about special education and students on the job
*Teaching students sensory and process art confirms students do grasp,
respond, and move forward through art
 Allrutz, C. C. (1974). A rationale
REFERENCES for teacher education for art
education: special education.
Art Education, 27(8), 26–29.

Gair, S. B. (1978). Are the arts

ready for special education?
Art Education, 31(7), 13–14.

Ponder, C., & Kissinger, L. (2009).

Shaken and stirred: a pilot
project in arts and special
education. Teaching Artist
Journal, 7(1), 40–46.
https://doi.org/10.1080/154117
90802454360