From pot to rhizome: visual arts as a pedagogical mediation for the transformation and social inclusion of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Abstract

The research-action proposal is presented as a research mainly of social action in reflective-theoretical praxis, which is specify in an intervention of artistic workshops for 4 years in a special education center of the public education system, and is framed in the multidisciplinary work that it includes the teaching of art and visual communication, inclusive education and the educational context of disability, where participants were directly involved in working with the visual arts. The researcher and educator of plastic arts is positioned in this process as a teacher in a special education center where it promotes the right of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder to receive an inclusive and comprehensive education from the perspective of the visual arts. The purpose of the research was to propose a paradigm shift in the education of these people from their immediate educational context through pedagogical mediation from the visual arts, as an improvement for their human welfare. Valuing aspects of the practice in how to provide quality of life, self-determination, identifying their needs and interests and valuing the development of their creativity, cognitive, motor and social skills, promote greater autonomy and communication and expression, through artistic processes such as knowledge construction vehicles.