Pragmatic Arts Program

In Spring 2009, ArtSpan launched the Pragmatic Arts Program to provide arts classes for students who struggle with peer relationships and social skills. The curriculum goals of the Pragmatic Arts Program have been established so students will experience social interaction and be encouraged to define social skills and relate them to their own experiences.

WINTER 2012

NEW! Art Over the Rainbow: A Pragmatics Class for Children on the Autism Spectrum (Ages 6-11) with Laura Evonne Steinman (Limited to 6) 10 Thursdays, January 12-March 22, 3:45-4:45 pm; no class February 23. $250. The only way to see a rainbow is to look through the rain. (Anonymous) Come, create things that go! Trains, planes, trucks, and more, all made out of unique materials. This is a great class for kids with lots of energy and an imagination that is out of this world! The instructor will meet privately with each child and and parent(s) before admission to the class, to be sure this is the right program for you--appointments will be scheduled through the ArtSpan office. Check-in sessions will happen midway through the class, and at the end, to be sure we meet the needs of your creative child. For more information, please contact the ArtSpan office at 781.862.6040.

This class is designed for students who struggle with peer relationships and social skills. The program is for elementary age students who present with profiles such as autism spectrum disorders or other social cognition challenges. Conducted by an Arist Facilitator skilled at working with children of all kinds, this series of carefully structures and professionally taught classes use visual, dramatic, and movement arts to help convey social expectations while guiding social responses and self-expression. Research has suggested that--beyond addressing social skills challenges-- art projects may promote the development of abstract thinking skills, better hand-eye coordination and spatial recognition, and more patience and flexibility for conquering tasks.