Art for the learning disabled pre-adolescent with visual perception deficiencies

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the effects of an art-based remediation program on learning disabled pre-adolescents with visual perception deficits. Twenty-six students at Sequoia Intermediate School in Newbury Park were selected for the study. All of them had visual perception impairments which ranged from mild to severe. The study proposed to teach these students three basic components of perspective; they are the following: 1. That large objects appear in the foreground of an art piece, and smaller objects appear in the background. 3. That detailed objects appear in the foreground of an art work, and less detailed objects appear in the background. 3. That overlapping of forms creates depth. First, students were each given a pencil drawing assignment as a pre-test to determine what they knew about these three concepts. Each youngster was also given a string test in which he placed the end of a string between his eyes; he then held the string taut and looked down it with both eyes to see if he had depth perception. If the student had correct depth perception, the string should have formed a v or x shape. Second, students were given specific pencil drawing instruction. Each youngster chose a subject in which he or she was interested; then each child was shown photographs and art reproductions which illustrated the above concepts in that specific interest area. Third, each of them was given a post-test covering the same three components of perspective. Nine art educators from the Conejo Valley United School District ranked the use of the above concepts in both pre-test and post-test drawings, which are exhibited in chapter IV. A comparison of these results indicates that students made the following average gains: 1. An increase of 1.07 in use of large forms in the foreground of art work and smaller forms in the background. 2. An increase of .93 in use of detailed forms in the foreground of their art pieces and less detailed forms in the background. 3. An increase of 1.09 in the use of overlapping. In conclusion, art-based remediation programs can plan a significant role in helping learning disabled pre-adolescents with visual perception deficits.