Interested in pursuing a special ed degree and incorporating art therapy?

Question

I'm interested in working with autistic children where I am

able to incorporate art therapy as a form of communication

and creativity. I'm trying to get a better prospective from

someone who is an art teacher or special education teacher working with special needs children who can provide some insights.

I'm also looking into graduate programs in special education which is a bit of a disadvantage since my undergraduate degree was not in education but would anyone know if there are any programs that offer special education and art therapy?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You could do a double degree which covers special ed and art/art therapy.

You could also try doing special ed as your magor and having art as a minor.

Answer 2

Art therapy combined with special education is a wonderful way to help children!  Art is an excellent form of communication for students who struggle with verbal communication- which makes it perfect for many autistic children.  If you're asking if this would be a good plan, I definitely think that it is.

As far as degree programs, I don't know of anything off-hand that would combine these two.  You would probably be better off searching for a large university that offers art therapy (since this is likely to be the less common degree program) and then see if they also offer degrees in education.  Not having done an undergraduate degree in education is not usually a problem- you'll just need to take lots of psychology courses (which will likely be required for the art therapy anyway) and methods courses, as well as complete a student teaching program.

Good luck to you!  You're choice of profession is not an easy one, but is one that will pay back far more in personal rewards than you can ever imagine.

A word of advice- if you don't have experience working with autistic children, I recommend that you look into spending some time in an autistic classroom before you go too far into your degree.  Contact your local school district or special education school and ask if there is a class you might be able to observe for awhile.  Autistic children are wonderfully loving and rewarding to work with, but it is NOT for everyone.  You wouldn't want to go through an entire college degree only to find out that you're miserable...