bluebonnetgirl Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) I am looking for a basic drawing book or video course for a teen on the spectrum with no previous drawing experience. The purpose would be to get him to a point where he could use drawings as an adjunct to narrations of a story for demonstrating comprehension and aiding comprehension. Nothing too juvenile in appearance, but I still need it basic and step by step. Any ideas? Edited May 22, 2016 by bluebonnetgirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Drawing Textbook by Bruce McIntyre has used and appreciated by all my kids, even dysgraphic ds2. Cheap and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Totally different direction, but our ASD charter offers art lessons. I'm working on getting my ds signed up. I think, just to answer your question and drawing from my own self as a severe non-artist, I think you could ask if you're looking for drawing using shapes and steps, or whether you're looking for sketching (overall shape, sense). If you're looking for sketching, I would go with something like Drawing on the Right Side of the brain and get very simple sketching inspirations. If you're looking for stepped drawing using shapes, then there are lots of simple books for that. Rainbow Resource will have them. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=urs1210046722&disposition=inline I think this is the article I was reading on art therapy for autism. I thought there was one more, but I've lost it, sorry. One of them had stages of drawing. So the problem is *because* it's developmental you're not necessarily going to jump but have to meet him where he is in that progression, kwim? But obviously I have no clue what I'm talking about. I just read something about that in the article and thought wow. My ds seems to be at the shape drawing stage in that progression, so he'll draw a picture of a thing (this is not very often, but when he does) and it will be composed of shapes. So he drew a picture of some kind of construction digger, and it was composed of circles. He drew bats to fill the haunted his in his doodling book with the tutor, and same gig, it's small triangles with a rectangle. So he's at this shape stage. I think actual sketching, where they outline a form and go right to it, is a later stage. And I have no clue how to help kids get there. Part of the reason I want to use the art therapist is because the art I've *tried* to do with him (traditional art projects like painting to follow the inspiration of an artist you studied, that kind of thing) leaves him melting down. The perfectionism really gets him then. So to me that's like ok then let's get someone ELSE to do this with him so they know how to be chilled, how to take it in stride. But it's tricky because developmentally he can't just go in with his peers and advanced peers and fit in for a regular art class, kwim? His art just isn't going to be there. But he can do SOMETHING and enjoy it. I think I'm going to try to get him into a regular art camp this summer if I can. I'm still working on it. I just don't know. Maybe the charter school teacher will laugh me off (ds is pretty high functioning in general), but I doubt it. Usually they just meet them where they are and move forward. But that's a trick to know ok what IS a good next step. (drawing with shapes, sketching, etc.) If he wouldn't *notice* the ages of the kids, you might find a sketching class where he'd be on the older end of the bracket, like maybe a class meant for 8-12 and he's 13, something like that. That way the peers would be developmentally closer to where he is. Have you looked at the doodling books Timberdoodle sells? Would they be accessible for him? My ds seems to enjoy doing the with his ABA tutor. She rips the pages out, so they'll do maybe one or two of the two-sided pages in a session. They're perforated, making it easy. I've done some story drawing for comprehension with my ds. His drawings were super rudimentary. We gave up and went to more work on language, because that for him helps his comprehension. I'm not sure as an adult I could really do that very confidently, sketching for stories. Some people are really good at it! If it doesn't come together in a way that is functional for what you wanted in the amount of time you wanted (like if you realize ok the sketching is a good goal but it's going to take a while), you might try using mindmapping software like Inspiration with images from Google Image. With the software, you can drag in ANYTHING. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 I'm interested in the virtual instructor for myself and my son. I believe it fits your criteria though we haven't taken the plunge yet. You can try it for 1 week for $1. http://thevirtualinstructor.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LearningByDoing Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Do you specifically want something online and not in person when it comes to courses? Artshoptherapy has ebook lessons and instructional videos. You can check it out here: http://artshoptherapy.com/ebooks-and-videos/ I haven't used it, but I heard about it from a friend who is about to start it with her son. I can give you an update once I hear from her how it went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebonnetgirl Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Thank you all for your ideas. I would prefer a book or self paced online course. As long as it is scaffolded into easy lessons. It does not need to be high art - really looking for how to quickly sketch common figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebonnetgirl Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 I found this on Timberdoodle, and see samples n Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Almost-Everything-Illustrated/dp/1631591401 How to Draw Almost Anything. Looks interesting. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.