This is a case review of an 8+ year-old boy diagnosed with autistic disorder when he was 3 years old. The aim of this paper is to re-examine the case to find out if there were any other comorbid conditions besides the autism that the boy had been diagnosed. In order to do it, the authors used the diagnostic model based on the hierarchy of the six building blocks of skills and abilities (Chia, 2008; 2012). This is a cross-battery assessment involving several standardized tests and checklists to be carried out. The results provide a new perspective that helps educational therapists and early interventionists to better understand and also to re-consider their treatment approach in helping the child with syndromic complex condition of autistic disorder to cope with his current learning and behavioral challenges.
This is a case review of a male Chinese adult, BK, who has been previously diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis complex, syndromic low-functioning/non-verbal autistic savantism and intellectual disability. He has the gift of painting and has since produced many works that show he has an eye for detail, color, texture, and stroke application (Camulli, Goh and Chia, 2018). This paper adopts a different perspective to study the case by re-examining BK’s systemizing ability, i.e., his innate drive to analyze or construct any kind of system, and in his case, painting. Systemizing is defined as the ability to follow a certain set of implicit rules that is governing the system in order to predict how that system will behave (Baron-Cohen 2006). In BK’s case, the focus is on his gift of systemizing ability in the cognitive process of acrylic painting using the following cognitive formulation: [input]->[operation]->[output].
Mandalas (in Sanskrit refers to “circle” or “discoid object”) have been exclusively a part of the Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism and Shintoism, for hundreds of years. They represent the different aspects of the universe. They are also used as sacred meditation tools as well as consecrated symbols of prayer, most notably in China, Japan, and Tibet. Only in recent years that mandalas have been found to promote the mental as well as physical well-being or wellness, especially for those who are experiencing stress, anxiety and depression (also known as SAD syndrome). They are eventually incorporated into art as therapy and counseling as part of the repertoire of intervention tools. Generally, mandala art therapy can be divided into three different forms: (i) mandala meditation, (ii) mandala drawing, and (iii) mandala coloring. Each of these forms is a therapeutic tool that serves to help a person to relax and be at peace with oneself. According to Jungian concept of a mandala, it refers to the psychological expression of the totality of the self, and hence, mandala art therapy in whichever of its three forms can help to establish the positive wholesomeness of self. In this paper, the authors have chosen to focus on mandala coloring as a therapeutic tool and introduced the simple five-step procedure to implement it.
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