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Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

09:03
Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism
Published on: March 27, 2012
Expressive drawing ability in children with autism.
Richard P Jolley1, Rachael O'Kelly, Claire M Barlow
1School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, Staffordshire University, UK. r.jolley@staffs.ac.uk
The British Journal of Developmental Psychology
|January 22, 2013
Summary
Children with autism show drawing skills comparable to peers with similar learning difficulties. However, social-emotional impairments in autism impact their drawings of people and social scenes, revealing developmental differences.
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Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Art Therapy
Background:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by challenges in social-emotional reciprocity and imagination.
- Expressive drawing is a tool to assess cognitive and emotional development in children.
- Previous research suggests potential differences in artistic expression among children with autism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate qualitative differences in expressive drawings by children with autism.
- To determine if autistic impairments in social-emotional competence and imagination influence drawing abilities beyond general learning difficulties.
- To compare drawings from children with autism to control groups matched for learning difficulty, mental age, and chronological age.
Main Methods:
- A sample of 60 children aged 5-19 years participated.
- Participants included 15 children with non-savant autism and three control groups (matched for MLD, MA, CA).
- Drawings depicting happy and sad emotions were collected and rated on a 7-point quality of expression scale by two artists.
Main Results:
- Drawings from the autistic group were rated similarly to the mental age (MA) and moderate learning difficulty (MLD) control groups.
- Children with autism did not draw fewer people but produced more immature forms compared to MA controls.
- Tentative evidence suggested fewer social scenes were drawn by the autism sample.
Conclusions:
- The overall quality of expressive drawing in children with autism is commensurate with their general learning difficulties.
- Specific social-emotional impairments in autism appear to affect the depiction of people and social interactions in their drawings.
- Drawing analysis reveals nuanced impacts of autism on social-emotional and imaginative expression.

