Determining the Developmental Level of Artistic Expression in Students with Cerebral Palsy / Utvrđivanje razvojnog stupnja likovnog izražavanja kod učenika s cerebralnom paralizom

Abstract

Abstract

Drawings are a significant determinant of children’s maturation and can be considered a reflection of the achieved level of a child’s intellectual abilities, but also an indicator of a child’s maturity and his or her emotional adaptation.The aim of this study was to determine the developmental level of artistic expression in students with cerebral palsy through the estimation of developmental stage by interpreting human figure drawings, and through defining the characteristics of artistic expression in relation to gender, age, type of school, grade, and upper limbs laterality of students with cerebral palsy.The study was conducted on the sample of 37 elementary school students, of both genders, aged 8–19, and diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The developmental level of artistic expression was determined on the basis of the stages determined as the criteria for human figure drawings.The results show that in the population of students with cerebral palsy the most frequent developmental stage of artistic expression was the Beginning of Conventional Drawings of human figures; that the better achievement with the statistical significance was found in girls when compared to boys (p < 0.05), among participants from regular school in relation to participants from special school (p < 0.01), among older participants as compared to participants from junior grades (p < 0.05), and in participants aged 12–14 when compared to those from the group of 8–11 years of age (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that children with cerebral palsy go through different developmental stages of artistic expression more slowly than typically developing children, which may be a consequence of primary disability, experiential factors, and specific development of these children.

Key words: age, elementary school, gender, human figure drawings, specific development.

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Sažetak

Crteži su značajan pokazatelj dječjeg sazrijevanja i mogu se smatrati odrazom postignute razine intelektualnih sposobnosti kod djeteta, ali i pokazateljem zrelosti djeteta i njegove emocionalne prilagodbe.Cilj je ovog istraživanja utvrditi razvojni stupanj likovnog izražavanja učenika s cerebralnom paralizom na osnovi procjene razvojne faze tumačenjem crteža ljudskog lika te definiranjem obilježja likovnog izražavanja učenika s cerebralnom paralizom s obzirom na spol, dob, vrstu škole, razred i lateralizaciju gornjih ekstremiteta.Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 37 učenika osnovnih škola, pripadnika oba spola, u dobi od 8 do 19 godina i s dijagnozom cerebralne paralize. Razvojna razina likovnog izražavanja utvrđena je na temelju faza koje su definirane kao kriteriji za crteže ljudske figure.Rezultati pokazuju da je u populaciji učenika s cerebralnom paralizom najčešća razvojna faza likovnog izražavanja bila početak konvencionalnog crteža ljudskog lika, da su statistički značajno bolja postignuća utvrđena kod djevojčica u odnosu na dječake (p < 0,05), među sudionicima iz redovne škole u odnosu na sudionike iz škole za djecu s posebnim potrebama (p < 0,01), kod starijih sudionika u odnosu na sudionike iz nižih razreda (p < 0,05) i kod sudionika u dobnoj skupini od 12 do 14 godina u odnosu na one iz skupine od 8 do 11 godina (p < 0,05).Ovi rezultati pokazuju da djeca s cerebralnom paralizom prolaze kroz različite razvojne faze likovnog izražavanja sporije nego djeca urednog razvoja, što može biti posljedica primarnog poremećaja, iskustvenih faktora i posebnosti razvoja te djece.

Ključne riječi: dob; osnovna škola; spol; crteži ljudskog lika; specifični razvoj