Abstract

This PhD thesis presents a case study of children with autism and their teachers at UK primary School. There is a gap in social communication between children with autism and their teachers, which can lead to frustration for the children and significantly hinder the learning process. This PhD thesis applied qualitative research to collect and analyse data (observations, interviews, surveys, and photos of the artwork produced by children with autism) in the complex classroom setting to improve the quality of practice, focusing on adapting teaching styles to support the pupils' needs. The PhD thesis integrated the three key research elements of design thinking, participatory design, and art therapy to develop creative visual communication (2D/3D visual toolkits), which present and explain tasks in a manner that is more compatible with the learning style of children with autism. The visual toolkits aimed to break down lesson plans into more readily understandable components, translate tasks and worksheets into an immersive visual learning experience and employ a variety of visual aids. The visual toolkits employed proper imagery, textures, creative thinking, etc., to bring the lesson to life in a way which allows children with autism to actively engage with the material at hand whilst also ensuring that the visual and tactile experience was not overwhelming to the pupils. Children with autism experience a range of challenges with social communication, language skills, sensory issues, attention problems, executive functioning, and emotional regulation and these challenges often vary between children (e.g. autistic children have varying support needs). Such problems can result in communication problems between teachers and students. There is a growing challenge to meet the requirements of children with autism in school, considering the difficulties they face with some aspects of typical social interaction (e.g. maintaining eye contact, interpreting facial expressions and emotional signals), communication skills (verbal and non-verbal), and repetitive behaviours (e.g. hyper-fixation and a strong need for routine), as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of activities or interests since early childhood, and are often referred to art therapy sessions. Such difficulties require careful attention. One way to do this is to use an innovative design approach to support classroom learning, pivoting away from conventional teaching approaches to a new visual teaching style based on the development of creative visual communication. Hence, this PhD thesis aims to aid teachers (teachers working with special educational needs in general, and with autism in specific) in the adoption of these toolkits help children with autism to understand and take part in classroom activities more easily. The results of this PhD thesis confirmed that this learning approach could be useful as an additional tool to help teachers in supporting children with autism.