Social skills difficulties are a central concern for elementary school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often constraining opportunities for meaningful peer connection and participation within inclusive educational settings. In response to the need for interventions that are both structured and expressive, this study explores the use of group art therapy–based instruction as a pedagogical and relational approach to supporting social skills development in children with ASD. Grounded in principles of group art therapy, the instructional program emphasizes art-making as a relational process, guided interpersonal interaction, and reflective sharing to facilitate social engagement within a naturalistic classroom environment. This study employs a qualitative collective case study design involving multiple elementary school students with ASD participating in a resource room–based social skills program. The intervention consists of twelve weekly sessions, each lasting forty minutes. Data sources include classroom observations, video recordings, students’ artworks, session reflection logs, and teacher field notes. The analysis attends to changes in students’ social behaviors across the instructional process, with particular attention to nonverbal communication, social initiation, social reciprocity, and social cognition, as manifested within group art-making and relational interactions. By foregrounding process-oriented, arts-based, and relational interaction, this study seeks to illuminate how group art therapy–informed instruction may foster social engagement among elementary students with ASD, while offering practice-oriented insights for art therapy–informed special education contexts.

Authors:
Pei-Ying Hu, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Hu Pei-Ying is the Head of Special Education at Leli Elementary School, New Taipei City, with over five years of teaching experience. Her interests center on arts-based pedagogy, creative expression in inclusive classrooms, and social skills instruct

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