Correlations between the Drawing Process in Autistic Children and Developmental Indexes

Abstract

Objective: In developmental age the drawing process represents one of the best tools to assess the level of maturity reached by the child in his various areas of functioning. This study considers a sample of 84 children aged between 2.5 and 15 years, all diagnosed with autism, evaluated by an expert team of professionals, in order to highlight the drawing stage reached and the correlation with the severity of autistic symptoms assessed by the ADOS and cognitively evaluated with the Leiter-R nonverbal scale. Methods: The drawing level was observed in spontaneous production by establishing a scale ranging from the presence of the disordered scribbling to the presence of the body schema, taking into account the stereotypes that can lead to some echo-graphic representations that are similar to the echo-lalic productions of the verbal language. Results: The results showed a significant correlation between the drawing production and the Social-Affection component of the ADOS, so demonstrating that the delay in the drawing is heavily influenced by an emotional as well as intellectual inhibition. Conclusion: Through some examples of drawings it is also emphasized the relationship between drawing and chronological age and the difference that emerges between drawings made in the evaluation context and those that come to life during the therapeutic process.