Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth Kellogg

Abstract

In this capstone thesis, I review current art therapy research and methods for treating and understanding children with the dual diagnosis of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These two diagnoses can be complex and can present similar symptoms and may be hard for counselors to identify the actual issue. Focusing on specific symptoms such as lack of social and communication skills and how utilizing art therapy interventions can potentially help reduce those symptoms will be the main focus of this thesis. The population focus is on children in preschool and grade-schooler settings aged 4 to 12. Then I apply and combine research on children with ADHD with research on art therapy with children with ASD, concluding with what is beyond the scope of this paper and current limitations such as lack of research about children of color, different races, and cultures. Additional recommendations offered are what should always be included in research with this population and possible art therapy interventions that could be integrated into schools curriculum. This thesis demonstrates that art therapy can be used as an intervention tool for treatment with this population to promote positive social skills and increase academic achievement and expression of emotions.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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