The Role Of Art And Culture In Improving The Lives Of People With Learning Disabilities In Ireland

Art and cultural engagement nowadays are used to benefit the mental and physical health, not only that it also helps in fostering healthy aging, and also reduce the chances of age-related disabilities that can range from the slow decline of cognitive ability to slow evolution of frailty. From this, it can be understood that engagement in arts helps in improving behavior during old age. Though there are no large-scale studies that have been conducted that would examine how the analyst of the arts engagement varies with age. It can be said that in the contemporary world art and culture have proved to be beneficial for people with disability. Though the access to the arts and culture is not consistent enough. For people suffering from learning disabilities, art and culture can be regarded as therapeutic, and so the needs of these disabled people in availing the mainstream arts and culture have often been neglected (researchgate.net, 2022). The articles used in this paper focuses on the people suffering from learning disabilities experience the culture and also the challenges they face in availing the services and how certain organizations can help these people access these services for a better experience in life. 

There are many organizations in Ireland specifically that work to improve the accessibility rate of culture and art therapies one of them is Blue Teapot in Ireland which has been actively working since 1996 the day it was established. This organization was established by Brothers of Charity Services Galway (BOCSG). Over the years the company has developed itself as a multi-stranded theatre. The focus of the company is to provide quality service to the people suffering from learning disabilities, and other kinds of intellectual disabilities who cannot able to perform training from elsewhere (blueteapot. ie, 2022). The company can provide quality service and has been successful in gaining its goal all across Ireland. 

It can be said in the words of Campbell and Oliver that Disability arts have been credited with challenging the role of arts and culture in the reproduction of a disabled society and “fighting back against a disability culture [by getting more people with disabilities involved in] cultural production.” Having said that the purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of art and culture in the lives of disabled persons, specifically those who are intellectually disabled. 

The creative art therapies provided to disabled people are person-centric but it is also well-versed with a variety of approaches such as psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, and developmental. Different places use a different kind of therapies to treat disabled people, but in Ireland, the most therapist uses the holistic or integrative approach to meet the needs of their clients (Darewych, Carlton, and Farrugie, 2015). Apart from these the therapist in Ireland also uses several creative approaches like sand tray, mindfulness, theatre, music, visual arts, dance, role play work so that they will be able to enhance their work practices. For this training is also provided (blueteapot. ie, 2022) and it is a two years program and the course includes personal counselling as well as clinical rotations in a number of settings are available.

Results

Arts and cultural engagement nowadays are used to benefit the mental and physical health, not only that it also helps in fostering healthy aging, and also reduce the chances of age-related disabilities that can range from the slow decline of cognitive ability to slow evolution of frailty. From this, it can be understood that engagement in arts helps in improving behavior during old age (Darewych, Carlton, and Farrugie, 2015). Though there are no large-scale studies that have been conducted that would examine how the analyst of the arts engagement varies with age. It can be said that in the contemporary world art and culture have proved to be beneficial for people with disability. Though the access to the arts and culture is not consistent enough (researchgate.net, 2022). For people suffering from learning disabilities, art and culture can be regarded as therapeutic, and so the needs of these disabled people in availing the mainstream arts and culture have often been neglected.

The arts-based intervention creates a platform that provides a rich experience to the clients, and also invites people who are not able to express their feelings through words, it ensures that these people can use the creative medium to express their feelings. This kind of therapy is best for those who have suffered trauma or are suffering from cognitive disorders or defects in communication (Fluharty et al., 2021). Creative arts therapy can help persons who have trouble making contact and connecting with others; these actions can function as a social connection, aid in the development of interpersonal skills, and aid in the formation of relationships.

Ireland's creative art therapies have a long history of helping persons with specific needs, such as intellectual disability. In Ireland, over one-third of self-employed creative arts therapists work with adults and adolescents, while half of self-employed creative arts therapists deal with children. Around 48% of creative arts therapists in Ireland operate in mainstream and special education settings, and this was identified as the most important area for advocacy and growth (Gratton, 2020).

There are many organizations in Ireland specifically that work to improve the accessibility rate of culture and art therapies one of them is Blue Teapot in Ireland which has been actively working since 1996 the day it was established. This organization was established by Brothers of Charity Services Galway (BOCSG). Over the years the company has developed itself as a multi-stranded theatre (blueteapot. ie, 2022). The focus of the company is to provide quality service to the people suffering from learning disabilities and other kinds of intellectual disabilities who cannot take training from elsewhere. 

The purpose of the study is to understand what role does art play in adults with disability and how it has helped them with their communication ability. 

The result that could be deduced from the article is that, for people with learning disabilities, community is the central part of their experience in art and culture. The challenges that were found to access these services are transport, the cost of the services. Some of the clients and their families feel that the services are quite costly for them as a result of which it becomes impossible for them to avail the services (Fluharty et al., 2021). The recommendation that could be given based on the result is that the consultation needs to be improved for people suffering from learning disabilities and about the kind of cultural opportunities they receive. A safe, cordial environment also needed to be provided to support the people with learning and intellectual disability. 

The findings from the article stated that there are a lot of age-related predictors related to engagement of arts, that includes gender, attainment of education, wealth, dissatisfaction with aging, and many more. For the cultural event attendance, it was seen that there is a lower rate of interest in the arts because there is a lack of engagement across the age groups, in case of the old age groups (70 years) the predictors became the religious service attendance (researchgate.net, 2022). The adults were reported with fewer difficulties in engaging in arts if they had lower safety in the neighbourhood. 

The participants in the theatre, for instance, the Blue Teapot in Ireland have benefited a lot from the engagement and the family members of the participants also feels that the services provided by the theatre was excellent and this kind of services could have not been provided by any other organization or theatre. The arts-based intervention provided by the theatre was successful in creating a platform that provides a rich experience to the clients and was also able to invite people who are not able to express their feelings through words, it ensured that these people can use the creative medium to express their feelings (blueteapot. ie, 2022). The therapies proved to be useful and enhanced the experience of the clients. 

Though from the findings of the research it could also be understood that there is scope for future research with the individuals suffering from developmental disabilities so that the opportunities and the challenges can be further identified. 

 Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded by saying that the creative art therapies provided to disabled people are person-centric and the approaches used are psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, and developmental. Different places use a different kind of therapies to treat disabled people, but in Ireland, the most therapist uses the holistic or integrative approach to meet the needs of their clients. Apart from these, therapists in Ireland utilise mindfulness, theatre, music, visual arts, dance, role play, and sand tray therapy, among other creative techniques. There are many reasons why people are not able to access the service, the first being socio-economic inequalities, transportation barriers, and financial barriers. If the people receive the service properly then it will benefit a range of health outcomes, because the positive benefit of culture and art cannot be denied in the contemporary world. The phenomenological art-based study is using various digital technologies (Darewych, Carlton, and Farrugie, 2015) to improve their services. 

Reference

blueteapot.ie, 2022. [online] Blueteapot.ie. Available at: <https://blueteapot.ie/wp-con_1/uploads/2015/11/Ability-not-Disability-Bravery-and-Changing-Views-in-Ireland.compressed.compressed.pdf> [Accessed 8 March 2022].

Darewych, O.H., Carlton, N.R. and Farrugie, K.W., 2015. Digital technology use in art therapy with adults with developmental disabilities. Journal on Developmental disabilities, 21(2), p.95.

Fluharty, M., Paul, E., Bone, J., Bu, F., Sonke, J. and Fancourt, D., 2021. Difference in predictors and barriers to arts and cultural engagement with age in the United States: A cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study. PloS one, 16(12), p.e0261532.

Gratton, N., 2020. People with learning disabilities and access to mainstream arts and culture: A participatory action research approach. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(2), pp.106-114.

www.researchgate.net, 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346490320_Creative_Arts_Therapies_in_Disability_Settings> [Accessed 8 March 2022].