The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of art activities on the fine-motor skills and visual perception of the children with mild mental retardation.
Two children with mild mental retardation who were attending special class a...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of art activities on the fine-motor skills and visual perception of the children with mild mental retardation.
Two children with mild mental retardation who were attending special class at K Elementary school located in Gimhae city were selected as the subject. The two subjects participated in the art activities program reorganized by the investigator twice a week(60 minutes per session), in total 24 sessions from October 2 to December 21, 2001.
The children were observed in terms of behaviors including fine-motor skills each session, and their raw scores of UTVP(Development Test of Visual Perception) were compared before and after the intervention.
The results were as follows:
First, the children were observed to improve In their fine-motor skills little by little in each session, In particular, their fundamental ability to express themselves in arts got better such as drawing lines and figures and painting with colors.
Second, their raw scores in all the subordinate of examination in DTVP increased after the art activities compared to those before art activities. Their improvement in the development of visual perception enabled them to mimic and freely associate, thus leading to spontaneous and bold expressions.
Third, not only physical exercise capacities but also emotional changes were observed. One child who were timid and quiet gradually grew into making more active self-expressions. The other child who tended to be tired of everything and irritated easily changed into being patient and persistent to finish a work. They were experiencing the sense of confidence and accomplishment.
In conclusion, art activities not only brought artistic interest to the children but also were effective in promoting their fine-motor skills and visual perceptual development.