At Apple House care homes we strive to support residents to lead a healthy lifestyle and to be as independent as possible. We provide access to a programme promoting healthy living and wellbeing, with home cooked fresh food, regular exercise, and creative activities. This article outlines why it is important to give people with autism the opportunity to take part in creative activities and regular exercise.

Challenges for people with Autism

For people with autism, you may notice that they can have challenges in interacting in social situations as it can be overwhelming at times with direct verbal communication. We may not get a direct response or eye contact and we can wonder if we have been understood. So it may also be a struggle to build a relationship with them through words alone.

At times people with autism can have rigid mindsets as this may be their way of making sense of the world around them. So, therefore, change can be difficult as they feel reassured by a routine that gives them a sense of control. They may not always understand that a change in routine may be something beyond their carer’s or parents’ control. Such as the illness of a friend or a change in who supports them due to outside factors.  They may need help in regulating their emotions in response to these situations.

Sensory experiences

Jackie Edwards (2017) describes how people with autism may have difficulty making connections between their tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive sensory systems where they may be overactive or not active enough with how they interact with their environment.  For example, they may have a hypersensitivity to loud noise or bright light, may also be de-sensitised to tactile experiences. So, therefore, they would benefit from a sensory diet to improve sensory integration.

She advocates giving people with autism access to different sensory experiences to help improve concentration and attention. This in turn may help them to be able to regulate awareness of their surroundings more effectively as well as to help them relax and not feel overwhelmed, leading to increased socialisation and interaction, promoting less rigid thinking, creativity, and motor skills.

Benefits of exercise

At Summerwood we recognise the importance of exercise by helping our residents access their community, take part in physical exercises such as the gym and swimming, and helping with gardening, tending the vegetable patch etc.

According to Healy S, et al. (2018) research shows that for people with autism exercise can have a number of benefits:

• Reducing stereotypical behaviours or self-stimulating behaviours
• Improving social skills with sports that promote teamwork
• Helps to reduce weight gain or obesity
• Can increase a person’s attention as repetitive behaviours can decrease
• Exercise can reduce anxiety and improve the ability to regulate emotions, build resilience to anxiety-triggering situations
• Exercise can improve motor skills and coordination for people with autism

Benefits of creative activities

The creative arts is another important activity and we support individuals to participate in regular arts and music classes in the community and within Summerwood, their home.

Art can give a person a sense of control as they learn to adapt to the task in their own way. Drawing and painting can also help to improve and maintain fine motor skills. Creative arts can be an effective way to engage with the person in a non-pressurised way. Tactile art forms such as paint and clay also provide a sensory experience to fulfill the needs of the person to be able to balance their sensory experiences more effectively. Music can elicit interactive emotional responses and melodic rhythms can help them engage.

Arts and wellbeing

People with disabilities can be more vulnerable to mental health issues so we are aware that it is important to provide a way for people to communicate their emotions appropriately. Behaviours on the surface may arise due to an inability to verbally communicate how they feel. Behaviours thus can have a function so this highlights the importance of non-verbal communication and communication aids to help people communicate their needs.

For further assistance, creative arts therapy with a trained art therapist can be a way for a person to be able to express and/or regulate their emotions when words are difficult. It can also help to improve cognition and emotional regulation where the aim is to use the art materials or creative activity to access emotional wellbeing and to help a person learn to regulate their emotions and understand themselves within a safe and facilitating environment.

— By Andrew Wright, Support Worker, Summerwood Care Home, Hants (Previously Rated ‘Outstanding’ by CQC).

References and further reading

Draycot, C. (2013) Educating Autism – Art and Creativity to Engage an Autistic Child in the Classroom. The Art of Autism: Connecting through the Arts. https://the-art-of-autism.com/educating-autism-art-and-creativity-to-engage-an-autistic-child-in-the-classroom/

Edwards, J. (2017) The benefits of multi-sensory environments. Autism Journey Blog.

Healy S (2018) The effect of physical activity interventions on youth with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis. Review article. Autism Research. 11(2) · April 2018.

Rudy, L.J (2017) How Does Art Therapy Help People With Autism? Very Well Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/art-therapy-for-autism-260054

In October 2015, I joined Creative Minds, a social enterprise set up to make art accessible to everybody, including people in care homes and residential homes for adults with learning disabilities. I am based in New Milton and deliver regular art sessions in the surrounding area including Lymington, Christchurch, Lyndhurst and Ringwood, and there are other Creative Minds artists delivering art sessions all around the country encouraging people who find it hard to access other art and craft courses by taking the sessions directly to them.

I still remember the very first Creative Minds session I delivered. One of the ladies taking part had been a very talented sculptor until she developed dementia and other age related illnesses which caused her and her family to make the very difficult decision to move her into a care home. During the art session, the lady, who was struggling to remember very simple things such as names, what day of the week it was and what colour she was using suddenly started having a conversation with me about negative spaces, different materials and techniques she had used to make her sculptures and other artists she really liked. She just seemed to come alive and I could sense that she was really enjoying having a conversation with someone else who knew a bit about art.

Another lady who had never done anything artistic before created an amazing piece of work which she was really pleased with. She also had dementia and five minutes after she had finished, she looked at her painting and said, “That’s lovey isn’t it. Who did that then?” She didn’t believe she had created something so beautiful. I remember leaving the home with a big smile on my face, knowing that I had made the right decision to leave teaching and become a creative minds artist.

Since that day I have had the pleasure to work in many other homes including Summerwood and Redcroft (Apple House homes).  I still always leave with a big smile on my face. I never know what to expect, and in some of the homes for adults with learning disabilities or where the residents have dementia, events can be very unpredictable, but every session results in someone laughing, or someone creating a piece of work they are really proud of, or someone learning a new skill. I have even seen the joy in the faces of relatives when they come in and see their loved ones enjoying themselves so much. Many even have their relatives work on display in their own homes as a constant reminder of their loved one.

There is nothing better than being able to use the gifts you were given to make other people happy, to make them smile and laugh and to see the sense of achievement in their faces. Not only has becoming a Creative Minds artist given me the opportunity to do all of this, but I have also had the privilege to meet the most amazing people. All of the care home staff and the residents who take part in the art sessions provide so much inspiration with their caring attitude, their incredible stories and their willingness to try new things. I hope I have had a positive impact on other their lives because they have certainly had a positive impact on mine.

–Karen Blake (Creative Minds artist)

To find out about creative minds sessions in this area, please e-mail karen.blake@creativemindsan.co.uk

To find out more about creative minds or how to book sessions in other parts of the country visit www.creativemindsan.co.uk for more information.

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• We look at activities that are achievable and person centred but that also have an aim and purpose.
• We like to have fun but realise that life is not only about enjoying ourselves. Having freedom to choose what we do every day is a right but along with it comes our responsibility – to ourselves and those around us. Sometimes doing daily chores can be challenging but they are essential to keeping us fit and healthy.

So how do we put this ethos into practice?

Summer is definitely set up to be full of fun but also very productive