Social isolation in the school pictures of learning-disabled children: A research study

Abstract

Interpersonal relationships are essential to the normal development of a child. Learning-disabled children lack interpersonal relationships, and manifest social isolation in both their behavior and artwork. In a study comparing the drawings done by fifteen learning-disabled children and fifteen children displaying no learning problems it was demonstrated that learning-disabled children depict themselves as socially isolated in the context of their school environment. Two out of seven measures proved significant in the discrimination of the two groups with regard to social isolation. A grotesque self-image and the omission of peers from the drawing appeared significantly more in the drawings of learning-disabled children than in those of normal children. As diagnostic assessments, the children's drawings can indicate social isolation and the direction toward its remediation.