Drama Therapy and Storymaking in Special Education

by Paula Crimmens

Overview

Many aspects of drama therapy make it an ideal technique to use with students with special learning needs. This practical resource book for professionals covers the broad spectrum of students attending special needs schools, including those with attention deficit disorder, autism and Asperger syndrome, and students with multiple disabilities.

Paula Crimmens places therapeutic storymaking within the context of drama therapy and offers practical advice on how to structure and set up sessions to be compatible with special needs learning environments. She shows how story sessions can address issues of self-esteem and self-mastery, and how their use in groups is invaluable for building social and communication skills. The book includes traditional stories from around the world as session material, and includes guidance on how to devise stories relevant to older students, as well as a review of recent research into the effectiveness of drama therapy in engaging and retaining the attention of students with an intellectual disability.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846424861
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	02/17/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Paula Crimmens has pioneered the use of drama therapy in special education in her adopted country New Zealand where she has been resident since 1996. She has a Masters of Arts in Creative Arts Therapies and is currently piloting a project to provide drama therapy to groups of at-risk children in primary schools in Auckland funded by the Ministry of Education. She is the author of Storymaking and Creative Groupwork with Older People, also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Table of Contents

Introduction. 1. Getting started. 2. The use of traditional stories. 3. Helping others. 4. Dealing with change. 5. Working as a team. 6. The theme of trickery and stealing. 7. Stories of a special child. 8. The unlikely heroes. 9. Competitiveness. 10.Trust. 11. Devising stories. 12. Storyboard stories. 13. Research study. References. Index.

Editorial Reviews

It is an inspiring read from cover to cover as well as a text that can be read a chapter at a time. This is Paula Crimmen's second book following her successful Storymaking and Creative Group Work with Older People. I look forward to her next book.

Dramatherapy

This is a practical book, placing therapeutic storymaking within the context of drama therapy and offering advice on how to structure and set up sessions to be compatible with special needs learning environments. Using traditional stories from around the world as session material, Crimmens shows how stories can address issues of self-esteem and self-mastery and how their use in groups is invaluable for building social and communication skills.

Human Givens

A practical resource book for professionals working with a broad spectrum of children and young people with special needs, including those with attention deficit disorder, autism, Asperger's Syndrome and multiple disabilities. It is a welcome addition to the field of dramatherapy literature and should be on the reading list of dramatherapy training courses.

Sesame Institute Leaflet

Above all this is a common sense book that uses many practical examples from the author's considerable therapeutic experience. Ideal for students following a practice based course. She shows how story sessions can address issues of self-esteem and self-mastery, and how their use in groups is invaluable for building social and communication skills. This is a very good book and is a recommended buy for all play therapy trainees and also for experienced Play Therapists

Play for Life

The educational context for Crimmens's book is very clearly within special educational provision. It will be an excellent resource for professionals working in such a context and for those involved in group work with adults with a learning disability. I would also recommend it for the many mainstream teachers who are striving for more inclusive classrooms and engaging in more creative teaching and learning. I think it's a very readable book... I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of her practice, which are easily imagined. And I also feel that it's a "grownup" book, with good academic references to be followed up if you would like to do further research in this area.

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