The Journey of Creativity with an Asperger's Adolescent

A couple of years ago I created a mini art program for my high- functioning Asperger syndrome son. I felt as an artist and mother that his school was not doing enough to offer him art and inspire his creative being. I also suspected that he might enjoy taking art classes and possibly like interacting with other students of a similar age. My desire as a parent was to help him make friends, socialize and participate in an activity that could be enjoyable. This thesis documents my struggle to marry the two driving forces in my life: motherhood and the artist's way of being. It argues why I believe creativity needs to be part of the curriculum for children with Asperger's syndrome despite the literature indicating that these individuals lack creativity and fear change. During my library search and an analysis of his behaviour to the art-based activities, I began to question what creativity is. How did my son view creativity? Was he creative? These inquiries and explorations became part of the data for my thesis.