Special Education Students Overcome Obstacles With Art Therapy

 Summer is one of the most rewarding seasons for artists who love to create in nature. At Litorina School, there is no shortage of creative children. This is evidenced by the original mandalas that the pupils make with great inspiration in their art lessons. Mandalas are not only pleasing to the eye, but also have a therapeutic role to play: they calm the mind, teach concentration, and help to reveal feelings and emotions that are sometimes hard to recognise and understand. Turkish educators, who demonstrated the endless creative and therapeutic possibilities of nature during the "Visual Art Therapy" visit, introduced the work with natural materials.

 for a better representation and framing of the visually impaired child in a friendly setting, it is useful to create a collage, a familiar scenario, All the elements known about the environment, positioned in a narrow frame, creating a harmonious final work

 In order to encourage reading, and to respect books, and to achieve a more special student-book relationship. The visually impaired students can mark the pages of their favorite books in a more attractive style by creating tactile bookmarks - tactile images created on PIAF paper, and colored with dactilo painting. That give the product originality and personality, determining and discovering the joy in small and delicate things.

 Any outdoor activity is welcome for all children, but especially for those with visual impairments. They are encouraged to get out of their comfort zone, to dare to play with other children, enjoying the benefits of fresh air and warm sun. At the same time, all the senses are trained - hearing - sounds from the environment - birds, the noises of the city, the voices of colleagues and teachers , touch- chalk, leaves, asphalt, ground , dust ,    the smell - the scent of flowers, air, breeze, food,  the taste - even water is more alive, the sight  - the visual remainder is trained, which is intensified by natural sunlight

The most beautiful gift offered with love. Making bracelets is a beautiful and useful activity, but also challenging, even for visually impaired children. It motivates them to express their feelings, to be more sociable and expressive. At the same time, it helps them to develop their fine motor skills, to orient themselves in small spaces, to respect an order and a pattern, a model, appreciating the final product, the result of their work, which they can offer, or enjoy for a while longer time

  Colleagues from Greece tried an inspiring therapeutic method - making collages from natural materials.  The children with reduced mobility found it challenging to work with small details, but the results were delightful! 

    Would be the title, if we had to name the last visit of the Erasmus+ project “Special Education Students Overcome Obstacles With Art Therapy” at the Emine Teoman Special Education and Practice Center in Niğde (Turkey). The employees of the Centre have honed unique skills, and were able to use everything in the environment surrounding the pupils to create a therapeutic environment necessary for the improvement of the physical and mental condition of children with special educational needs.    Having witnessed the influence of finely trained motor skills on pupil's development, the specialists at the centre have given their utmost attention and time to this area in particular. Development of fine motor skills encourages development of speech and memory, improves the finger, palm, wrist, hand to eye coordination, help pupils concentrate and relax, as well as suppress their excess emotions and reduce mental fatigue. Techniques chosen for the development of fine motor skills are: