Effects of dance-movement therapy on the movement and self-concept of wheelchair users with intellectual disabilities

This study aimed to determine the effects of dance-movement therapy on individuals with mild intellectual disabilities, focusing on their self-concept and various general and wheelchair movement qualities. The sample included two females and three males with mild intellectual disabilities, ranging in age from 17 to 26 years. Two of the participants were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, while the other three were diagnosed with myelomeningocele. The participants had difficulties/disorders in various aspects of movement and used a wheelchair to move independently. They were included in a dance-movement therapy programme developed specifically for the present study, which incorporated various dance-movement therapy concepts such as Emerging Body Language (Rutten-Saris, 1992), Brain Dance (Gilbert, 2015), and the Dance Movement Therapy approach (Payne, 2006). The dance-movement therapy programme involved one-hour sessions that took place weekly over a four-year period. We used the Self-Concept Questionnaire (Musitu et al., 1998) through which social, familial, physical, learning, and emotional aspects of self-concept were assessed, as well as two scales assessing general and wheelchair movement quality (developed specifically for this study). The results indicate that, at the beginning of the dance-movement therapy programme, participants had below average social, familial, learning, and emotional aspects of self-concept, as well as above average physical self-concept and some difficulties with certain general and wheelchair movements. After attending the dance-movement therapy programme, participants showed improved performance and scored above average on most self-concept aspects. They also improved in all measured aspects of general movement quality and several aspects of wheelchair movement quality. Thus, the results suggest that the dance-movement therapy programme was effective for individuals with mild intellectual disabilities and movement difficulties in the areas of self-concept, as well as general and wheelchair movement.