Creative abilities in Children with Autism Spectrum … Farina Università di Milano –Bicocca Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione Riccardo Massa Quality of Life and Well

Creative abilities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: it is a

potential?

Stefania MolteniEleonora Farina

Università di Milano – BicoccaDipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione Riccardo Massa

Quality of Life and Well Being

Well-Being involves the totality of the individual:

EVERYONE CAN BE SEEN AS AN ACTIVE PROTAGONIST OF THEIR OWN CHANGE (Bonino and Cattelino, 2008)

The “Quality of Life” is subjective and it refers to the “Well-Being” of the individual(Delle Fave, 2007; Huppert, Baylis & Keverne, 2005; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

The quality of life is related to a complete state of physical, psycho-social well-being and considers every aspect of an individual's life (WHO, 1999).

Università degli studi – Milano Bicocca

CONCEPT OF HEALTH

not only focused on physical,

but also on psychological and social wellness,

and not only on disease

BUT ALSO ON POTENTIALITIES AND STRENGTHS.

Therefore, health promotion means fostering the development of individual and collective resources and supporting the improvement of personal skills

(Lemma, 2005).

In this regard, the WHO (1999) stressed the importance of programs aimed at

improving the LIFE SKILLS, which can develop through experience.


Health Promotion

Life skills are cognitive, social, emotional and relational abilities that allow people to better address the needs and challenges of everyday life, like:


Life Skills (1/2)

Empathy

Decision making

Problem solving

Comunication

Critical thinking

Relational ability

Self-awareness

Self-efficacy

Creativity

Emotion Management

Stress Management


Life Skills (2/2)

My presentation today will focus in particular on:

Creativity

With a particular focus on children with autism specrtum disorders

… a short theoretical introduction


IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

The ability to produce creative thinking is a meta-competence, an ability that can be applied to different fields (Antonietti, Colombo, Pizzingrilli, 2011)

DIFFERENT THEORIES OF CREATIVITY:

Guilford (1967; 1970), Taylor (1959), DeBono (1967), Weisberg (1993); Mednick e Mednick (1967),

Torrance (1974)

Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)

• FLUIDITY;

• FLEXIBILITY;

• ORIGINALITY;

• ELABORATION.

Creativity

http://images.google.it/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=creativit%C3%A0&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=v2FcLG6Jvm8yqM&tbnid=kiFxcWbWrLUoMM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.bo.cna.it/Rappresentanza/cna_cultura_e_creativita&ei=mA8RUeH_FonGtAbch4GoCQ&bvm=bv.41934586,d.Yms&psig=AFQjCNERf3KPJJphGz58bGHZV14etsYLDw&ust=1360158970874295

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE

IMAGINATION

WHO, 1987; APA, 1994; …


Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder with a recognizable pattern of deficits in three different areas of development (according to the DSM-IV the DSM 5 has

been just now translated).

Autism


Research on autism are generally focused on deficit that children with autism may show

their abilities are usually not considered.

CHILDREN WITH ASD SEEM TO HAVE SOME CREATIVE COMPETENCE (Asperger, 1994; Fitzgerald, 2004; Kellman, 2004; James, 2006;

Happé e Vidal, 2009; et al.)

Some traits of autism seem to be particularly favorable for the development of creativity

• TENDENCY TOWARD PERFECTION;

• ABILITY TO FOCUS ON DETAILS AND GOOD MEMORY;

• ABILITY TO PERSIST ON THE SAME TASK;

• TENDENCY TO STAY ALONE;

• LACK OF INTEREST FOR SOCIAL JUDGEMENTS.

Autism and Creativity

CREATIVITY AUTISM

THIS STUDY AIMED AT:

• Verifying if children with autism are able to realize creative products;

• Verifying if children with autism are able to differentiate between creative and non-creative their personal productions;

• Verifying if there are significant differences in creative abilities between children withASD and with typical development.


AimsThis study aimed at investigating on creative abilities of children with

autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

51 CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (HFA & AS)

Aged between 5 and 11 years old

(M= 82,61 months; min =53 months, max =122 months; S.D. = 17.848)

43 males and 8 females

Recruited from:

Assosiation in the Northern Italy;


51 CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT PAIRED FOR GENDER AND AGE

Recruited from:A kindergarten and two primary schools

In the Northern Italy

Participants

(M= 82,99 months; min =58 months, max =122 months; S.D. = 17.393)

Material (1/2)PICTURES COMPLETING SUBTEST –

TORRANCE (1974)

We administered a test of creative thinking, in particular a subtest of Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, in which each child was requested to complete ten lines drawing

something creative, and to invent a title for each drawing.


TRIANGLE TASK (Antonietti e Pizzingrilli, 2009)

We administered the Triangle Task in which each child was requested to draw something creative and something not creative, using the same triangle shape.


Material (2/2)

Results (1/8)

The data showed that children with ASD are original and produce elaborate ideas with a good number of details, even if not significantly different from children with typical

development. They show rigid thinking and a difficulty to produce ideas and ideas different from each other.

F Sig.

Fluidity 2.072 >.05

Flexibility 9.158 <.005

Originality .421 >.05

Elaboration 2.893 >.05


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Fluidity Flexibility Elaboration Originality

Children with Autism

Children with Typical Development

TD Children6 YEARS OLD

Results (2/8)


ASD Children6 YEARS OLD

ASD Children8 YEARS OLD

TD Children8 YEARS OLD

This is an example of different performance. Children with autism add a higher number of details, are more original but less flexible, in fact they realize a fantasy character or an

animal in most drawings, differently from TD Children.

Results (3/8)

The data showed that, dividing children with autism into two groups based on age, creative ability increase with the age, but not in a significant way.

F Sig.

Fluidity 2.891 p>.05

Flexibility .766 p>.05

Originality .151 p>.05

Elaboration .341 p>.05


THE EFFECT OF AGE – CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

0,000

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000


Younger Children

Older Children

Results (4/8)

The data showed that, dividing children with typical development into two groups based on age, fluidity and flexibility decrease with age, originality and elaboration increase, even if

not in a significant way.

F Sig.

Fluidity 2.171 p>.05

Flexibility .771 p>.05

Originality .260 p>.05

Elaboration 1.349 p>.05


THE EFFECT OF AGE – CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

0,000

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000


Younger Children

Older Children

F Sig.

Originality Non creative Triangle .959 p>.05

Originality Creative Triangle .488 p>.05

Elaboration Non creative Triangle .965 p>.05

Elaboration Creative Triangle .030 p>.05


All children are able to differentiatetheir production between creative and

non creative, even if children withtypical development are more able toshare other children’s point of view.

Results (5/8)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Originality_NCT Originality_CT Elaboration_NCT Elaboration_CT

Children with Autism

Children with Typical Development

TD Children6 YEARS

Results (6/8)


TD Children8 YEARS

ASD Children6 YEARS

Children with autism are able to differentiate their production, but they show some difficulties in sharing other children’s point of view. In Fact the “Cristal” is less creative

than the “King of the Sun and the Moon”, but it isn’t what children usually draw startingfrom a triangle

ASD Children8 YEARS

F Sig.

Originality Non creative Triangle 3.359 >.05

Originality Creative Triangle 7.137 <.01

Elaboration Non creative Triangle .647 >.05

Elaboration Creative Triangle 4.882 <.05


Results (7/8)

The data showed that, dividing children with autism into two groups based on age, the ability to add a lot of details increase with the age, as well as the ability to differentiate

their production between creative and non creative.

THE EFFECT OF AGE – CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

,000

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000


Younger Children

Older Children

F Sig.

Originality Non creative Triangle .255 p>.05

Originality Creative Triangle .643 p>.05

Elaboration Non creative Triangle .021 p>.05

Elaboration Creative Triangle .689 p>.05


Results (8/8)

The data showed that, dividing children with autism into two groups

based on age, the ability to differentiate their production

between creative and non creative remain constant.

THE EFFECT OF AGE – CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

,000

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000


Younger Children

Older Children

WE HAVE FOUND THAT THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CREATIVITY

AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE

(Sànchez-Ruiz et al. 2011; Hoffman e Russ, 2012)

IN PARTICULAR:

In children with ASD emotion comprehension is linked to the ability to realize many drawings (p<.01) and to realize drawings different from each

other (p<.005).

Differently from children with typical development: only originality is linked to emotion comprehension (p<.05).

In addition…

http://images.google.it/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=emozioni&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=rYQ-Qwh0h_8dTM&tbnid=7BsOywGuN-7VkM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.borgione.it/Palle-e-palloni/Palle-gioco/Palle-delle-emozioni/ca_4797.html&ei=1BMRUffgIMjJtAbdg4C4Dw&bvm=bv.41934586,d.Yms&psig=AFQjCNH7Bnu3-ttMpBYsqNKQ5K4EJ_WFpA&ust=1360160070759665

Discussion


• Children with ASD show a good ability to add detail and are moreoriginal than children with typical development.

• Children with autism show difficulties in producing many ideasand ideas different from each other.

• Some aspects of creativity are significantly related to emotionalcomprehension.

THESE RESULTS ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY UNDERLINE THAT CHILDREN WITH AUTISM HAVE SOME DIFFICULTIES BUT ALSO SOME

CREATIVE ABILITIES

Our results underlined the importance of looking not only at deficit, but above all the potential – like creative competences – of children with ASD

STARTING FROM THESE FIRST RESULTS, WE PROJECTED A TRAINING PROGRAM ON CREATIVITY FOR SMALL GROUPS OF CHILDREN WITH

ASD.

Conclusion

CREATIVITY IS A POTENTIALS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM AND IT IS AN IMPORTANT COMPETENCE!


Challenge and future developments

CAN CREATIVITY BE IMPORTANT FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS ??

Thank youfor your attention!!

Bibliography (1/3)Achenbach, T. M. (2001), Child Behavior Checklist, ASEBA: University of Vermont (USA). Trad. It. (a cura di) Frigerio, A. (2001) “E.

Medea” Ass. La Nostra Famiglia, Bosisio Parini – LC.Albanese O., Molina P. (a cura di) (2008), Lo sviluppo della comprensione delle emozioni e la sua valutazione. La

standardizzazione italiana del Test di Comprensione delle Emozioni (TEC). Milano: Unicopli.Antonietti A., Pizzingrilli P. (2009), La rappresentazione della creatività, In Cesa-Bianchi M. (Eds.), La creatività scientifica, Roma:

Giunti.Antonietti, A., Colombo, B., Pizzingrilli, P. (2011), The WCR model of creativity. From concept to application, Open Education

Journal, 4, pp. 80-89.Arnheim, R. (1966), Toward a psychology of art: Collected essays, Berkley: University of Californian Press,.Asperger, H. (1944), Autistic psychopathy in childhood, In Frith, U. (a cura di) (1991), Autism and Asperger Syndrome, pp. 37-92,

New York: Cambridge University Press.Bonino, S., Cattelino, E. (2008), La prevenzione in adolescenza. Percorsi psicoeducativi di intervento sul rischio e la salute, Trento:

Erickson.Constantino, J. N., Gruber, C. P. (2005), SRS - Social Responsiveness Scale, Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services. Trad. It. (a

cura di) Zuddas, A., Di Martino, A., Delitala, L., Anchisi, L., Melis, G. (2010), SRS - Social Responsiveness Scale, Firenze:Giunti, Organizzazioni Speciali.

Craig, J., Baron-Cohen, S. (1999), Creativity and Imagination in Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Journal of Autism andDevelopmental Disorders, 29(4), pp. 319–326.

Dawson G. (1991), A psycological perspective on the early socio-emotional development of children with autism, In Cicchetti D. eToth S.L. (a cura di), Rochester symposium on developmental psychopatology, 3, Rochester, University of Rochester Press.

DeBono, E. (1967), The use of lateral thinking, London: Cape.Delle Fave, A. (2007), La condivisione del Benessere. Il contributo della Psicologia Positiva, Milano: Franco Angeli.Denham, S. A. (2006). Social-emotional competence as support for school readiness: What is it and how do we assess it? Early

Education and Development, Special Issue: Measurement of School Readiness, 17, 57-89.Dewey M. (1991), Living with Asperger's syndrome, Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.

184-206.Dudek, S.F. (1974), Creativity in young children: Attitude or ability? Journal of Creative Behavior, 8, pp. 282-292. Fitzgerald, M. (2004), Autism and creativity: is there a link between autism in men and exceptional ability?, New York: Brunner-

Routledge.


Bibliography (2/3)Garfield, S. J. (1968) Creativity, mental health and psychotherapy, Dissertation Abstract International, 28(B).Guilford, J.P. (1967), The nature of human intelligence, New York: McGraw Hill.Guilford, J.P. (1970), Creativity: retrospect and prospect, Journal of creative Behaviour, 4, pp.149-169, trad. it. Beaudot, A. (1977),

La creatività: retrospettiva e prospettiva, Torino: Loescher.Halberstadt, A.G., Denham, S.A., Dunsmore, J.C. (2001). Affective social competence. Social Development, 10, pp. 79-119.Happé, F., Vital, P. (2009), What aspects of autism predispose to talent?, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B:

Biological Sciences, 364, pp. 1369-1375.Hoffman, J., Russ, S. (2012), Pretend Play, Creativity and Emotion Regulation in Children, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and

the Arts, American Psychological Association, 6 (2), pp. 175-184.Huppert, F.A., Baylis, N., Keverne, B. (2005), The Science of Well-being, Oxford: Oxford University Press.James, I. (2006), Asperger's syndrome and high achievement: Some very remarkable people, London: Jessica Kingslay.Kanner L. (1943), Autistic disturbances of affective contact, Nervous Child, 2, pp. 217-250.Kellman, J. (2004), Art of a child with autism: Drawing systems and proto mathematics, Journal of Aesthetic Education, 38, pp. 12-

22.Klin A. (1991), Young autistic children’s listening preferences in regard to speech: a possible characterization of the symptom of

social withdrawal, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 21, pp. 29–42.Klin A., Volkmar F.R., Sparrow S.S. (1992), Autistic social dysfunction: Some limitations of the theory of mind hypothes, Journal of

Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, pp. 861- 876.Lemma, P. (2005), Promuovere la salute nell’era della globalizzazione,Milano: Edizioni Unicopli.Liu, M.J, Shih, W.L., Ma, L.Y. (2010), Are children with Asperger syndrome creative in divergent thinking and feeling? A brief report,

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, in press, doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2010.04.011.McFall, R.M. (1982). A review and reformulation of the concept of social skills. Behavioral Assessment, 4, pp. 1-33.Mednick, S.A., Mednick, M.T. (1967), Manual for the Remote Associates Test, Form 1, Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.Newson E. (1979), Marking sense of autism: An overview in collection of paper of study weekend on autistic children, Nottingham:

Inge Wakehurstn Trust Fund.Paget, K. D. (1980), On the relationship between the creative and social-emotional development of emotionally handicapped

children, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36 (4).Pons, F., Harris, P.L. (2000) Test of Emotion Comprehension, Sainte Foy: University of Oxford; trad. It. Albanese, O., Molina, P.

(2008).


Bibliography (3/3)Raven, J.C. (1984), Coloured Progressive Matrices, Firenze: Organizzazioni Speciali. Trad. It. (a cura di) Belacchi, C., Scalisi, T. G.,

Cannoni, E., Cornoldi, C. (2008) Matrici Progressive di Raven Forma Colore (CPM-47). Manuale d’uso e standardizzazioneitaliana, Firenze: Organizzazioni Speciali.

Ryan, R.M., Deci, L. (2000), Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Instinsic Motivation, Social Development, andWell.Being, American Psychologist, 55 (1), pp. 68-78.

Rubin, K.H., Bukowski W., Parker, J.G (1998). Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups. In Damon W. (series ed.), Eisenberg N.(vol. ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology. Vol. 3: Social, Emotional, and Personality Development (pp. 619-700). New York:Wiley.

Rubin, K.H., Rose-Krasnor, L. (1992). Interpersonal problem solving. In V.B. Van Hassett, M. Hersen (eds.), Handbook of socialdevelopment (pp. 283-323). New York: Plenum Press.

Russ, S. W. (1993), Affect and creativity, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Russ, S. W. (1998), Play, Creativity, and Adaptive Functioning: Implications for Play Interventions, Journal of Clinical Child

Psychology, 27 (4), pp. 469-480.Russ, S. (2004 ), Play in child development and psychotherapy: Toward empirically supported practice. Mahwah, NJ.: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates.Saarni C. (1999), The development of emotional competence. New York: Guilford Press.Sànchez-Ruiz, M. J., Hernandez-Torrano, D., Pérez-Gonzàlez, J.C., Batey, M., Petrides, K. V. (2011), The relationship between trait

emotional intelligence and creativity across subject domains, Motivation and Emotion, Springer.Schaffer, H.R. (2004). Child Psychology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell (trad. it. Psicologia dello sviluppo. Un’introduzione. Milano:

Raffaello Cortina, 2005).Taylor, C.W. (1959), The 1959 University of Utah Research Conference on the Identification of Creative Scientific Talent, Salt Lake

City: University of Utah Press.Torrance, E.P. (1974), The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking: Technical-norms manual, Scholastic Testing Services, Bensenville,

trad. it. Sprini, G., Tomasello, S. (1989), Test di pensiero creativo, Firenze: Edizioni O.S.Volkmar F.R. (1987), Diagnostic issues in the pervasive developmental disorders, Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied

Disciplines, 28(3), pp. 365-369.Weisberg, R.W. (1993), Creativity: beyond the myth of genius, New York: Freeman.Wing, L., Attwood, T. (1987), Syndrome of autism and atypical development, In Cohen D.J., Donnellan A.M. (Eds.), Handbook of

autism and pervasive developmental disorders, New York: Wiley, pp. 3-19.


Documents

Creative abilities in Children with Autism Spectrum … Farina Università di Milano –Bicocca Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione Riccardo Massa Quality of Life and Well