Introduction Children who are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit challenges in social and emotional skills. Developing Social and emotional skills is vital toured self fulfilment and independent living. Independent, engagement with others, and lead. This paper will review the benefits of drama therapy as a behaviorist therapeutic approach to improve these skills.
1. Why Drama Therapy? According to the North America Drama Therapy Association (NADTA), drama therapy is “a creative arts therapy method that integrates role play, stories, improvisation, and other techniques taken from the theater with the theories and methods of therapy” (NADTA, 2015). When working with children, some of the benefits of drama therapy include: reducing feelings of isolation, developing new coping skills and patterns, broadening the range of expression of feelings, experiencing improved self-esteem and self-worth, increasing sense of play and spontaneity, and developing relationships (NADTA, 2015). As an expressive art therapy, drama therapy also encourages self-expression and self-exploration that are so vital for personal growth and emotional awareness of self and one’s environment. Drama Therapy helps the participants to feel secure and control of their life, by creating a safe space and a supportive environment.
2. Drama Therapy and High functioning ASD Children Children who have deficits in social and emotional skills. Early intervention therapeutic approaches aim to help teaching and practicing these skills. Drama therapy is used for many therapeutic goals with many population types, such as dementia patients, or mental ill and has much to offer in developing social and emotional skills. The main principle of drama therapy is knowing the self is the key for the awareness of the surrounding emotionally as well as socially. Drama therapy techniques implement this principle to assist in decreasing anxiety and depression; strengthening self-expression, self-exploration and self-esteem, and improving socialization and engagement with others.
3. The benefit of drama therapy to high functioning ASD In its most basic form, in addition to verbal communication, drama therapy also offers non-verbal communication. This value of drama therapy is an asset when working with population that face communication challenges. Another aspect of drama therapy is in a group setting, where peers practice interaction with each other. The interaction with others appears in its most basic form of drama with the presence of the audience. This aspect of drama therapy is mimicking a significant real life experiences, allowing practicing interaction and communication with peers and the environment, in a controlled safe and secure way. The practiced situations usually from the participant’s life or closer to their reality. Drama therapy also poses interaction with others is through ‘Mirroring’.
In the book The Narrative Therapist and the Arts: Second Edition (1992, 2006, p. 293), Pamela Dunne explains that ‘Mirroring’ is when other participant take the role of an individual in an action, while the individual step out of her or his role and observe the action and reflect upon it. By observing the self and distancing from the situation, the individual is able to develop self-awareness regarding her or his own behavior. Mirroring encourages awareness, such as recognition of situation, facial expression, emotions, etc. These techniques also improve spontaneity, encourage flexibility and coping with un-expectable or non-desired situations. Children’s feeling and thoughts are often communicated throughout children language, which is play. In drama therapy a trained professional communicate with the client through this special language of play (NADTA, 2015).
4. Current behaviorist therapeutic approaches and the link to drama therapy In his book Social Skills, Emotional Growth and Drama Therapy: Inspiring Connection on the Autism Spectrum (2011), Lee R. Chasen presents the ‘Development, Individual Difference, Relationship’ (DIR), also known as ‘Floortime’. It is a child-centered approach, focused on emotional development by establishing an interactive relationship with the individual. Another technique, Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), teaches parents and professionals how to engage ASD children in more flexible, creative problem-solving, emotional self-awareness and dynamic interaction (Chasen, 2011, pp. 48-49).
Chasen (2011) explains that these child-based approaches reflect the importance of developmental play, emotional intelligence, and relationship building in the treatment of ASD children (Chasen, 2011, p. 49). Not surprisingly, they are also key strategies that are used in drama therapy. Drama therapy integrates some of these approaches and benefits from the principles behind them. Drama therapy is usually done in a very unique and personal level, in corresponding to each subject and his or hers unique needs, particularly because it is hard to define a very specific course of treatment that will work with all subject of the target population.
Conclusion Of the many challenges that high functioning children with autism face, social and emotional skills are very vital. Children who are high functioning with autism face many challenges, where social and emotional skills are very vital to operate in the world and interaction with others. Mastering these skills can lead these individuals to improve their integration with their environment, strengthen personal growth and develop future successful functioning and independence in society. Drama therapy can be considered as an integrative intervention approach for ASD children. As Chasen (2011) explains, the drama therapy approach uses this ‘child center’ approach with individuals in the context of a larger shared group process. The clinical power of group process as a healing and socializing mechanism is a key factor of drama therapy approach (Chasen, 2011, p. 49).