Drama and the Education of Young People with Special Needs

Abstract

The use of drama in the curriculum for children with special needs is sometimes automatically equated with dramatherapy. Such an assumption may arise from the mistaken belief that if a child has some kind of learning disability, the only type of drama of any value for them must be designed to help them with their particular individual need. Dramatherapy is a developing approach to the treatment and education of specific groups based on the work of J. L. Moreno. While some children with special needs might benefit from the approach, it should not be assumed that any child needs dramatherapy any more than they need physio or electroconvulsion therapy (Kempe, 1996, pp. 10–11). Indeed, as Irwin (1979) has argued, to make such an assumption is contrary to the belief that any well structured and carefully monitored work in drama can be ‘therapeutic’ by merit of the fact that it can give the individual a greater sense of competence in the activity being focused upon resulting in heightened self worth. Given that drama is a social art form (as opposed to something that can productively be engaged with in a solitary way), active engagement in dramatic activity can facilitate positive social outcomes such as a sense of belonging to a group. While the generation of such feelings may be seen as beneficial to all (Gallagher, 2007), they may have particular importance for children who, because of their particular needs, may be excluded from a number of social situations that others take for granted

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