While this is a significant contribution to a child’s well being, dance therapy offers more than one way to help the development of the “whole” child. This therapy can also be used to teach autistic children, how to cope with new people and situations, how to participate in physical exercise and activities, how to help them establish relationships, and how to communicate with others. Dance therapy also exposes them to a form of art. Rudolf Laban believed teaching through dance facilitates and fosters artistic expression while learning a multitude of skills. He expanded this idea of learning multiple skills with one activity by saying:
It accomplishes this by fostering awareness of the body with regard to space and of rhythm, maintaining flexibility of the spine and promoting muscular development, developing the ability to communicate more effectively with peers, abetting personality development, promoting aesthetic taste and discrimination, as well as a encouraging a creative attitude. (Seitz 39-40)
Laban contributed to the theory that dance therapy is beneficial to children’s cognitive, psychological, social, and physical development. According to Laban, a child’s cognitive development is encouraged by assisting the child to form opinions on parts of an art form and gives the child a creative outlook. A child learns to communicate with others through dance, therefore developing his or her social skills. The child has a chance to develop his or her personality by exploring feelings, the art form, and his or her own interaction with others, which is a psychological benefit. Lastly, the improvement of flexibility and development of muscles helps the child physically. The “whole” child is affected by dance therapy. An autistic child benefits from every aspect of their development through the combination of skills dance therapy offers.
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