Arts and Cerebral Palsy

Art is the most creative form of expression man has ever known. As Elbert Hubbard has said “Art is not a thing — it is a way”. Looking at present day, creative inclination of children is very important as it plays a vital role to create a positive bend of mind and aesthetic approaches in every work he or she will do. Also it helps in molding the minds of children to develop a positive nature and appreciate natural beauty.

With Children suffering from Cerebral Palsy communication & expressing themselves becomes very difficult. Sometimes it is due to their physical conditions & sometimes they force themselves to remain restricted. Besides overcoming their physical challenges, it is also necessary to enable them to express their feelings, emotions, thoughts freely. Every individual is born with artistic sensibilities and Children suffering from cerebral palsy are no different. Arts provides them a fantastic medium of expression.

Apart from the therapeutic value of arts in dealing with cerebral palsy. It provides children with a unique and effective mode of communication. They can express their anxiety, thoughts, fear, concepts in short how they feel about themselves and world surrounding them through paintings, craft work etc. It also gives them a hands on training for day to day activities. Artistic sensitivity helps in molding a child’s behavior, interpersonal communication, perceptions and actions. It allows the children to grow, evolve, reflect and understand themselves and society.

Painting, colours, crafts helps them to get a sense of accomplishment by allowing them being the part of decorations and imparting the feeling of joy & happiness. Their creativity is an indispensable part of the sensory play and art therapy. It allows the therapists to create a baseline for the future course of treatment.

Arts also is an integral part of the therapy children with cerebral palsy undergo.  The use of different colours, strokes and kind of paintings and crafts these children create, depict their psychological state which helps the therapist & family to understand them & know them better. Thus it’s just not a mere mode of expression but also a child’s journey can be measured through these reflections.