Disabled people share experiences through art

By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Photos by Martha Rial Post-Gazette

Unable to talk or to use his fingers to type, David Young physically struggles to explain why he participates in a weekly art therapy class.

	David Young works on a painting.

Laboriously, he makes words and phrases appear on a screen mounted on his wheelchair by pressing his left temple, over and over, against a lever on the chair's headrest. Finally, he manages to write: "It's basically an outlet for being mad."

Though often frustrated by his severe disabilities from cerebral palsy, David, 41, can paint by wearing a glove adapted to help him hold a brush. It provides him a welcome outlet for expressing his feelings.

David inspired the show's theme by wanting to tell his story through his art, said his art therapist, Ellen Filar.

A comment he wrote about the first of five paintings in the show reads: "This is a cross with a spastic man on it. He is in a wheelchair. He has been through the hardest five years of his life and he wants to tell his story."

The goal of art therapy is not to produce beautiful art, but to help people communicate their thoughts and emotions, create a sense of accomplishment and foster problem-solving skills. Often, participants explore, with their therapists, what their creations mean to them.

Large studies with children traumatized by illness and with adult cancer survivors suggest that art therapy is beneficial.

But such research is limited in part because art therapy remains relatively new.

Art therapy can be very effective with people who have trouble sharing their thoughts and feelings through conversation, the usual approach to mental health treatment.

Sometimes, we can't define what's on our minds, The art brings it from the unconscious level.

	David Young's work titled "Journey To Acceptance,"

David's abstract paintings in the show reflect a range of emotions.

The first painting is in blue and purple; the second is dominated by red and black. "Red is rage," he wrote. "Black is the pit I was in. I did extremely little praying."

Black covers much of the next painting, called "Journey to Acceptance." The fourth painting, all in green, is labeled "Getting Back on My Feet." "This is where I am today," David wrote, "coming back from a long, long, long journey."

The final painting, in red, blue and green, asks, "Where do I go from here? I know this knowledge was given to me on purpose. . . I'm supposed to use everything to help people."

"It's something he works on every day. Art is just another way to help him work through this."