Thread by @A_Silent_Child

Currently reading a dissertation titled - Building the Neurodiversity Bridge: A Grounded Theory Examination of Popular Culture Perseverations in Art Therapy with
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Soooo I thought some of y'all might be interested in that. Good so far.

Author is Jessica Woolhiser Stallings.

Based on what I've read so far in the paper it sounds like she's an ex-behavioral therapist who now practices from a neurodiversity framework.

The paper is basically about incorporating special interests into Art Therapy.

I'll post some of my favorite quotes from it as I read through it.

I'm not 100% but I believe this is the same person if y'all want to see her site -

arttherapyandneurodiversity.com/about-jessica.…

I'm happy with the direction that autism research is moving. There is still a lot of work to do, but there's been a major shift in research focus over the past three years.

"Whereas neurotypical children reach out on their own for social connection, a child on the spectrum often does not, or at least not in a way that is identifiable to a neurotypical person."

This sentence made me smile - the ways we attempt to connect are not always recognized.

About the integration of special interests into therapy:

"By doing so, neurotypical clinicians can meet neurodivergent clients on their own terms rather than attempting to
conform them to a neurotypical agenda."

This one will be multiple tweets:

"For many art therapists and the general public, imagination is equated with an ability to create completely original content or imagery;

however, with the advent of the Internet it is increasingly clear that many people (with and without ASD) express their imaginations through fan fiction (Burt, 2017) and other popular culture responses...

(cont)

...[autistic clients] often select the popular cultural figures they identify with and use their connection with those figures to communicate, self-regulate, and even integrate new skills into their behavioral repertoire.

(cont)

Collectively, these interests provide a way to relate to and communicate with others, which art therapists may use to build therapeutic relationship and facilitate therapeutic goals."

TL;DR - Drawing fan content is often considered less valid art because it isn't original, but it's clear in the internet age that fan fiction and group interaction w/ content in this way is very popular for both NT and ND people. Use it in therapy w/ ASD special interests.

Y'all have no idea how many autistic people I know who find that CBT and/or other traditionally talk therapies don't work well for them.

I know I'm biased, hah. But I love reading that backed up here:

"Henley (1989) noted that Chomyn had engaged in extensive cognitive and behavioral therapies after the death of her mother and theorized that this treatment
actually may have facilitated her artistic regression because it “fail[ed] to support her during a time of personal crisis”

I'm studying art therapy largely because I want to work with people w/ communication disabilities (such as Autism) because I think the most popular therapies fail us.

"Popular culture and other perseverative material, which can appear to the uninformed observer as mindless
obsession, provide a valuable avenue for relationship building and communication -

Engagement with clients in this way acknowledges that autism is a different way of
thinking and interacting with the world and not an illness to be cured."

"These difficulties in attributing the emotions of others to events and attention tend to be focused on the periphery (e.g., noticing the sound of someone’s pen
clicking rather than what the person is saying, and therefore missing emotional cues)

instead of attributing relational meanings to social stimuli. As such, individuals with ASD have difficulty understanding social norms"

"Therapists are challenged to understand the concerns of ASAN and the neurodiversity movement and avoid imposing one-size-fits-all treatments or treating
aspects of ASD that do not need treatment,

such as when an obsession with Pokémon that does not interfere with daily functioning and therefore should be regarded as a non-issue."

"As a case in point, ASAN (2019) currently advocates for individualized treatment and is opposed to use of applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is the most common and widely researched treatment for ASD.

The organization has argued that that ABA was developed by neurotypical individuals and deploys behavioral techniques to help people behave more like neurotypical individuals without appreciating the unique needs and abilities of individuals with ASD."

“Kreslins et al. (2015) reviewed 30 studies with approximately 500 total participants and noted from the self-reports included in these studies that caregivers and clinicians found the treatment to be successful;

the participants themselves, however, did not always agree with this assessment...Regardless of the positivity of caregivers, there may be a need to adapt how CBT is delivered to individuals with ASD."

“Although there are clearly some advantages to this goal, particularly for academic development and, to a lesser degree, social functioning, the prevailing opinion of professionals in the 1960s through early 2000s emphasized a neurotypical lens on ASD.

Desirable social behavior is entirely contingent on what neurotypical individuals define it as and not on what neurodivergent individuals feel or desire”

"Individuals with ASD often perseverate on special interests. This literature review and my own clinical experience have documented frequent perseverations on popular
culture phenomena.

Henley (1989) recognized the importance of acknowledging these interests and not discouraging art based on these perseverations"

Another long one -

"The willingness of the therapist to work with macrosystem material provides a bridge to the neurodivergent world of the client through intersubjective encouragement of joint attention

and ability to work within the client’s chosen metaphor within the mesosystem interaction of client and therapist. The therapist’s action as a metaphoretician (Moon, 2007) with clients with ASD facilitates the therapeutic relationship and the achievement of therapeutic goals.

Acting in this way as an art therapist provides clients with ASD, regardless of age, input and control over their
therapy, which also address the advocacy concerns of ASAN and others in the neurodiversity movement."

"Many early art therapists discouraged the inclusion of popular culture imagery in art therapy (Potash, 2009); however, its inclusion today is an important avenue to
successful therapy with individuals on the spectrum"

"Ignoring or refusing to include such elements in work with neurodivergent clients may actually delay or impede the development of the therapeutic relationship because of the differences in how neurodivergent individuals think and interact as compared to neurotypical individuals"

"If an art therapist can create a bridge to neurodivergent clients’ realities...rather than requiring them to show interest in art materials and topics they may lack a natural interest in, the relationship is likely to develop more quickly and on clients’ own terms."

Oh I love this (long) -

"Because my project explicitly embraced a neurodivergent lens on practice, I felt
most importantly that the grounded theory from my study should be accessible to
neurodivergent individuals and their families and available to their critique and feedback.

If perseverative and popular culture types of interactions were indeed a bridge between neurotypical and neurodivergent worlds, then the practice theory that emerged from my study could be expected to be relatable to and even validated by neurodivergent
individuals.

(cont)

To test this assumption, I recruited a doctoral committee member who has autism spectrum disorder and works in academia. I consulted with her while designing and conducting the research study, and shared with her the elements of the grounded theory as I was developing it.

I also shared the theory with fellow academicians or
clinicians who were parents of individuals on the spectrum.

(cont)

...I asked those individuals who were featured in the video I created to screen it with me, to ensure that they felt I had accurately identified the function of their special interests and had captured how someone might engage in a relationship with them through that interest."

Another multi part one -

"Although some of the clients in the sample had sensory aversions and difficulties with some sensory experiences, these were not addressed in their primary therapy goals.

Instead, we worked more on increasing coping skills to deal with aversive sensations and ways to self-regulate. This choice was indicative of the neurodivergent lens on treatment and related to my value for client autonomy in session.

That is, when clients wanted to avoid a sensory experience, I allowed it as a matter of reinforcing their autonomy or self-agency, especially if the sensory aversion did not interfere with the client’s overall functioning."

Getting further in the paper affirmed that this is indeed her site

https://twitter.com/A_Silent_Child/status/1366165151745937414?s=19

Ok, finished reading it. That was a fantastic paper!

I'll summarize the basic argument in the next few tweets. I read it pretty fast & am writing this pretty fast, so it may not be perfect 😅

But essentially the argument presented was:

Current therapies for autism have been criticized by autistic adults for being designed from a lens of making autistic people less autistic, rather than from a lens of helping them cope with being autistic in an NT world.

Author has worked as an ABA therapist and currently works as an art therapist from a neurodiversity lens. She presents her own study arguing in favor of using art therapy - and specifically art therapy focused around the clients special interests - for ASD.

Additionally, she presents a summary of previous and current therapies for autism & the research around them. While parents & researchers report success with CBT and ABA therapies, autistic clients provide much lower reports of success.

This indicates that the goals of therapy are defined by what neurotypical people consider success, rather than being informed by the client.

Art therapy that makes use of fan art and other creative expressions relating to the autistic clients special interest can be uniquely healing to autistic clients AND help achieve some of the goals of traditional autism therapy faster.

Drawing fan content is often considered less valid in art therapy because it isn't original. However, it's clear in the internet age that fan fiction and group interaction with content in this way is very popular for both neurodivergent AND neurotypical people.

Fan art, video games, YouTube, and other media and technology based creative mediums can be used to explore the clients special interests and allow them autonomy over therapeutic treatment.

Engaging with autistic clients through their special interests first can create a bridge for the therapist into their world and what they find meaningful. This allows for a much quicker social connection to the therapist through mutual interaction with meaningful media.

Using this type of art making allows autistic people to have more control over therapy and reduces their anxiety in session. Additionally, it helps facilitate emotional processing through metaphorical and symbolic - and therfore more emotionally distanced - media and play.

Other benefits of using special interests in art therapy with autistic clients include: practicing social skills (evidence shows increased social motivation when special interests are encouraged); sensory & emotional regulation (evidence that engaging in special interests helps)

[End of summary]

Honestly I kind of want to meet the author of this now. 😅

She does exactly what I want to do - Art Therapy with autistic people - and takes essentially the same approach I want to.

Some of the things I read in the paper were ideas I had for how I want to approach art therapy with autistic people... and I'd never read anyone backing them before! I'm so excited to see this research! 😊

[This topic is my special interest, I'm sorry]

Basically, I want to see a world where art therapy, dance & movement therapy, music therapy, and drama therapy replace ABA as the number one autism therapy.

And fuuuuuck I want to use video games like minecraft and sims in my therapy with autistic clients.

That's one I've been thinking about the potential benefits of for YEARS and this paper gave me the research to back it. 🤗🤗🤗