Introduction
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition that affects how people communicate and interact with others. It also affects their behavior and learning abilities. According to the World Health Organization, one in 160 children has ASD worldwide.
One of the common challenges that children with ASD face is developing fine motor skills, which are the skills that involve the coordination of small muscles in the hands, fingers, and wrists. These skills are essential for performing everyday tasks such as writing, drawing, cutting, buttoning, and tying shoelaces.
Fine motor skills also play a crucial role in cognitive development, as they enable children to explore their environment, manipulate objects, and express their creativity. Moreover, fine motor skills are linked to social and emotional development, as they facilitate communication, self-regulation, and self-esteem.
However, many children with ASD have difficulties in developing fine motor skills, especially hand-eye coordination, which is the ability to synchronize the movements of the eyes and the hands. This can affect their academic performance, independence, and quality of life.
Fortunately, there are many ways to help children with ASD improve their fine motor skills, and one of them is painting. Painting is a fun and engaging activity that can stimulate the development of fine psychomotor skills, which are the skills that involve the integration of cognitive, sensory, and motor functions.
In this blog post, we will review a recent research paper that explores the contribution of the scientific literature regarding the use of painting in developing fine psychomotor skills in preschool children with ASD. We will also discuss the benefits and strategies of using painting as a pedagogical intervention for children with ASD.
The Research Paper
The research paper that we will review is titled “La pintura para desarrollar psicomotricidad fina en niños preescolares con trastorno del espectro autista” (Painting to develop fine psychomotor skills in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder), and it was published in 2024 by the Universidad Católica de Cuenca in Ecuador.
The paper is a literature review with an exploratory and descriptive approach. The authors collected data from various repositories such as Google Scholar, SciELO, Redalyc, Web of Science, and Dialnet, using keywords such as “autism”, “painting”, “fine motor skills”, and “psychomotricity”.
The authors analyzed 25 articles that met the inclusion criteria, which were:
- Published between 2010 and 2020
- Focused on the use of painting in developing fine psychomotor skills in children with ASD
- Written in Spanish or English
- Available in full text
The authors then synthesized the main findings and implications of the articles, and organized them into four categories:
- The impact of dactyl painting on fine motor skills
- The benefits of painting for children with ASD
- The effective strategies to improve fine motor skills with the use of painting
- The challenges and limitations of the studies
The Main Findings
The main findings of the literature review are summarized below:
The Impact of Dactyl Painting on Fine Motor Skills
Dactyl painting is a type of painting that involves using the fingers, palms, or fists to create marks on a surface. It is one of the most common and natural forms of painting for young children, as it allows them to explore their senses, express their emotions, and develop their creativity.
According to the literature review, dactyl painting has a significant impact on developing fine motor skills in children with ASD, as it stimulates the following aspects:
- The mastery of balance, motor coordination control, and spatial-temporal orientation
- The muscular flexibility and strength of the fingers and hands
- The precision and accuracy of fine movements
- The hand-eye coordination and visual perception
- The body awareness and proprioception
The literature review also suggests that dactyl painting encourages the development of imagination and creativity in children with ASD, as it allows them to experiment with different colors, textures, shapes, and patterns. This can enhance their cognitive and emotional skills, such as problem-solving, memory, attention, and self-expression.
The Benefits of Painting for Children with ASD
Painting is not only a fun and enjoyable activity for children with ASD, but also a powerful tool to improve their fine motor skills and their overall well-being. The literature review highlights the following benefits of painting for children with ASD:
- It improves their social participation and interaction, as it provides opportunities to share, collaborate, and communicate with others
- It stimulates their sensory integration and regulation, as it exposes them to different sensory stimuli and helps them cope with sensory overload
- It enhances their emotional expression and recognition, as it allows them to convey their feelings, emotions, and moods through colors and shapes
- It boosts their self-esteem and confidence, as it gives them a sense of accomplishment, pride, and autonomy
The Effective Strategies to Improve Fine Motor Skills with the Use of Painting
The literature review identifies several strategies that can help teachers, parents, and caregivers to use painting as a pedagogical intervention to improve fine motor skills in children with ASD. These strategies include:
- Finger painting, which involves using the fingers to create marks on a surface. This can improve the hand-eye coordination, muscular strength, and sensory integration of children with ASD.
- The use of brushes and sponges, which involves using different types of brushes and sponges to apply paint on a surface. This can improve the finger precision, grip control, and visual perception of children with ASD.
- Painting with unconventional objects, which involves using objects such as cotton balls, straws, stamps, or toothbrushes to create marks on a surface. This can improve the fine motor skills, creativity, and problem-solving skills of children with ASD.
- Painting in different positions, which involves changing the position of the child or the surface while painting. For example, painting on a vertical surface, such as a wall or an easel, can improve the posture, balance, and shoulder stability of children with ASD.
- Painting outdoors, which involves painting in natural settings, such as a park or a garden. This can improve the fine motor skills, sensory integration, and emotional regulation of children with ASD.
- Corporate painting games, which involve painting with other children or adults, such as painting each other’s hands or faces, or painting a mural together. This can improve the social skills, communication skills, and cooperation skills of children with ASD.
- Exploration of colors and textures, which involves mixing different colors and materials, such as sand, glitter, or rice, to create different effects and sensations. This can improve the fine motor skills, sensory integration, and cognitive skills of children with ASD.
- The creation of patterns and shapes, which involves using geometric shapes, such as circles, squares, or triangles, to create patterns and designs. This can improve the fine motor skills, visual perception, and mathematical skills of children with ASD.
The Challenges and Limitations of the Studies
The literature review also acknowledges the challenges and limitations of the studies that have been conducted on the use of painting in developing fine psychomotor skills in children with ASD. These include:
- The lack of standardized and validated instruments to measure the fine motor skills and the psychomotor development of children with ASD
- The lack of control groups and randomization in the experimental designs of the studies
- The small sample sizes and the heterogeneity of the participants in terms of age, gender, diagnosis, and severity of ASD
- The lack of long-term follow-up and evaluation of the outcomes and the impact of the interventions
- The lack of generalization and replication of the results and the findings across different contexts and settings
The Conclusion
The literature review concludes that painting is a powerful tool for children with ASD to develop fine psychomotor skills and enhance their quality of life. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the benefits and strategies of using painting as a pedagogical intervention for children with ASD. However, it also recognizes the need for more rigorous and robust research to validate and support the existing evidence and to fill the gaps in the knowledge base.
Faq
What is psychomotricity and why is it important for children with ASD?
Psychomotricity is the science that studies the relationship between the mind and the body, and how they influence each other. It involves the integration of cognitive, sensory, and motor functions, as well as emotional and social aspects. Psychomotricity is important for children with ASD because it helps them develop their fine motor skills, their self-awareness, their communication, and their learning abilities.
What are the main challenges that children with ASD face in developing fine motor skills?
Children with ASD face many challenges in developing fine motor skills, such as:
- Difficulty in coordinating the movements of the eyes and the hands
- Difficulty in controlling the force and the speed of the movements
- Difficulty in manipulating objects with precision and accuracy
- Difficulty in following instructions and sequences
- Difficulty in adapting to changes and new situations
How can painting help children with ASD overcome these challenges?
Painting can help children with ASD overcome these challenges by providing them with opportunities to:
- Practice and improve their hand-eye coordination and visual perception
- Strengthen and flex their muscles and joints in the fingers and hands
- Explore and manipulate different objects, colors, and textures
- Follow and create instructions and sequences
- Adapt and cope with changes and new situations
What are the main theoretical and conceptual frameworks that the authors used to guide and support the study?
The main theoretical and conceptual frameworks that the authors used to guide and support the study are:
- The constructivist and socio-cultural approaches to learning and development, which assume that children with ASD construct their own knowledge and understanding through their interactions with their environment and with others, and that painting is a cultural and social activity that mediates and facilitates these interactions
- The psychomotor theory and the fine motor skills model, which explain the relationship between the mind and the body, and how they influence each other, and which describe the components and the functions of the fine motor skills and how they can be developed and improved
- The painting theory and the painting pedagogy, which explore the nature and the purpose of painting, and how it can be used as a creative and expressive activity that can stimulate and enhance the cognitive and emotional skills of children with ASD
Source:
https://dspace.ucacue.edu.ec/items/563d0c57-8a64-4d60-948f-c0611a4f5279