The acquisition of social and communication skills using drama movement activities for adolescents with developmental disorders

The theme of this specialist thesis is monitoring of the implementation of drama movement activities that are used as a method of acquiring creative knowledge in adolescents with developmental disorders. Main purpose of this research is to determine whether the described methods and activities encourage awareness and the development of verbal and non-verbal communication, and contribute in raising the awareness and improving the emotional expression of the participants in this process as well as contribute to the progress of their social skills. Its theoretical part will present the subject of persons with disabilities, with further exposure of problems connected with growing up and integrating the youngsters with disabilities into everyday life. It will present the subject of assistance of drama movement activities and some elements of psychotherapy on which the program for development of social and communication skills is based on. The empirical part outlines the plan for the execution of the activities with the structure, content, methods used, forms and techniques of work. With a group of six children enrolled in level 6 of the special program of education in CIRIUS Vipava, we conducted twelve lessons of various drama movement activities based on the methods of arts therapies. In the action research with participation, qualitative methods of group case studies of the case were used. We monitored the process of arts therapies with help of a scale we have developed ourselves. With inclusion of adolescents with moderate development disorders in the process of drama movement workshops I wanted to encourage their development of self-awareness, skills and knowledge on their oral and physical expression, and to support them in building relationships when they were being included in their narrower and wider community. The results showed that the methods of the drama movement workshops contribute to the improvement of verbal and nonverbal communication and social skills in adolescents with deficits in mental and motor development