Application of Art Therapy in Autism Spectrum Disorders; The Features and Logic of Therapy (A Systematic Review Study)

Autism spectrum disorders are a subset of neurodevelopmental disorders, and one of the most important of its symptoms is the existence of deficiencies in social communication and interaction, interests, behaviors, and limited and repetitive activities. Art therapy is one of the intervention approaches for this disorder, which according to research has a good effect on helping autistic children. The aim of this article was to investigate the application of art therapy for autism spectrum disorders and the therapeutic features and logic of this approach. This study was a systematic review. Based on a search in Databases including Scholar, Science Direct, Sage, Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID), and Noormags, numerous articles were obtained according to the keywords of autism spectrum disorders, therapeutic approaches, and art therapy. Finally, the findings were categorized under the main headings of the role of art therapy in early interventions and the development of basic skills. The results showed that this approach has a great ability to help autistic children in solving their problems in sensory, communication, and motor skills. According to the obtained results, therapists and specialists can use the findings of this study to adopt a new perspective in order to use art therapy for children with autism.