Art and communication difficulties at P level 8

This level depends on an ability to understand that art has meaning. The emphasis is on completing a piece of artwork, with the implied understanding of an overview and some critical ability.

The practical aspects of creating art should not be a problem for children with communication difficulties. The main challenge is in understanding the required task, and having the conceptual and language ability to derive meaning from it.

You can:

• Read the previous P levels for advice on extending vocabulary.
• Help the pupil with the concept of deriving meaning from someone else’s art in various ways.   
• Ask questions about a piece of art; whether they like it or not and the rationale behind their preference.
• Help the pupil develop a vocabulary which covers emotion, colour and shape through examples and experience. It is helpful if the pupil has a list of words that they might need to use to convey their opinions, so they can be prompted if necessary.
• Music and other sensory input can be very helpful to link emotions and art, as discussed in P level 7 for autistic spectrum disorder.

Now you might like to look at:

• Art and design and communication difficulties P level 7
• Art and design and communication difficulties in the National Curriculum