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Original Articles

Understanding ArtAbility: Using qualitative methods to assess the impact of a multi-genre arts education program on middle-school students with autism and their neurotypical teen mentors

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Pages 48-74 | Published online: 27 Mar 2017
 

ABSTRACT

This article provides both a detailed description of ArtAbility, a multi-genre arts education program designed to meet the unique needs of middle-school students on the autism spectrum; and the results of a qualitative pilot study of the impact of ArtAbility on participants and their neurotypical teen mentors. A few prior studies have attempted to quantify outcomes of arts-based interventions for youth on the autism spectrum—especially drama education programs and music interventions—but our study is one of the first to use qualitative methods to generate a nuanced picture of how and why arts-based interventions can be so beneficial for this population. We argue that qualitative and quantitative approaches should be seen as complementary and mutually reinforcing. Our results validate findings from earlier quantitative studies in terms of the positive social and emotional learning outcomes that appear to accrue from participation in programs like ArtAbility. However, unlike earlier studies, we were also able to identify a number of reasons why ArtAbility was so successful. Chief among them were (1) the seamless interweaving of arts instruction with social and emotional learning instruction—the two combining to build a vibrant (albeit transient) experience of arts community; and (2) the role of neurotypical teen mentors in facilitating participants’ learning experiences in order to help them access program content, participate in multi-genre arts activities, and build meaningful relationships. We also found that effects of the program were bi-directional, and that teen mentors—recruited as volunteer support staff to facilitate learning for participants with autism—were also positively impacted by their experience mentoring participants.

En este artículo se proporciona una descripción detallada de ArtAbility, un programa de educación artística multi-género, diseñado para satisfacer las necesidades únicas de los estudiantes de educación media-básica en el espectro del autismo; y de los resultados de un estudio piloto cualitativo del impacto de ArtAbility sobre los participantes y sus tutores-adolescentes neurotípicos. Algunos estudios anteriores han intentado cuantificar los resultados de las intervenciones basadas en las artes, para la juventud en el espectro autista−especialmente los programas de educación teatral y las intervenciones musicales−, pero nuestro estudio es uno de los primeros en utilizar métodos cualitativos para generar una imagen matizada de cómo y por qué las intervenciones basadas en las artes pueden ser tan benéficas para esta población. Nosotros argumentamos que los enfoques cualitativos y cuantitativos deben ser vistos como complementarios, y que se refuerzan mutuamente. Nuestros resultados validan los resultados de estudios cuantitativos previos, en los términos de los resultados positivos de aprendizaje social y emocional que parecen acumularse por la participación en programas como ArtAbility. Sin embargo, a diferencia de los estudios anteriores, también hemos sido capaces de identificar un número de razones por las que ArtAbility fue tan exitoso. Las principales fueron: (1) el entrelazamiento continuo de la instrucción en las artes con la instrucción en el aprendizaje social y emocional−ambas combinadas para construir una vibrante (aunque transitoria) experiencia de comunidad de las artes−; y (2) el papel de los tutores-adolescentes neurotípicos para facilitar las experiencias de aprendizaje de los participantes, con el fin de ayudarles a acceder a los contenidos de los programas, a participar en actividades artísticas multi-género, y a construir relaciones significativas. También se encontró que los efectos del programa eran bi-direccionales, y que los tutores-adolescentes−reclutados como voluntarios para apoyo del personal que facilitó el aprendizaje de los participantes con autismo−fueron también impactados positivamente por su experiencia como tutores de los participantes.

Notes

1 Programs sharing similar goals to those of ArtAbility include The Miracle Project (http://www.uppityco.com/dp.html), Imagining Autism: Drama, Performance and Intermediality as Interventions for Autism (https://kent.ac.uk/research/academics/files/imagining-autism-leaflet.pdf), The Hunter Heartbeat Method (http://nisonger.osu.edu/shakespeare-autism), and The Drama-Play Connection (http://www.dramaplayconnection.com).

2 In order to access the complete ArtAbility program evaluation reports for Years 2 and 3, which included quantitative measures as well as qualitative measures, please contact the authors directly at [email protected].

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