A Review of the Effectiveness of Art Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder which affects an individual's social skills, communication, sensitivity to stimuli, and motor skills. Art Therapy (AT) is a promising intervention for children with ASD because it has been shown to improve motor skills, improve social communication, and provide new experiences. This review examines a sample of contemporary studies on the effects of AT on children with ASD in order to synthesize and present the current state of the literature. This review identified 11 studies, two were case studies, six were controlled experiments, and three were longitudinal studies without a control. These studies provide significant and compelling evidence that AT improves motor skills and emotional processing in children with ASD and suggestive evidence that AT improves communication and mental health. Future research with more narrowly tailored controls and experimental designs will be necessary to isolate a mediating variable and better understand how and why art therapy can be used to further improve the lives of the children with ASD.