Behind the Paintbrush: Understanding the Impact of Visual Arts-Based Research (ABR) in the Lives of Disabled Children and Youth as well as Methodological Insights in ABR Application

Abstract

Arts-based research (ABR) makes many promises, including the opportunity to engage with embodied ways of being and knowing, raise social and political concerns, as well as to address novel, participant-led inquiries. In this critical narrative review of the literature, we examine how disabled children and youth employ ABR methods in research contexts by carefully examining studies that use visual ABR. A secondary aim is to glean methodological insights from the application of ABR to the lives of disabled children and youth to help foster this critical dialogue. We decided to undertake this narrative review of the literature to better understand how ABR is used in pediatric disability contexts.