Abstract

Autistic adults may face challenges impacting their quality of life, especially if their emotional needs, social cognition, communication, and attachment difficulties are not well supported (American Psychiatric Association, 2022; Durrani, 2019; Stallings, 2022). Adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience ASD-related anxieties, including those with sensory integration dysfunction (SID), may become hypo or hypersensitive to sensory information, and withdraw from social or environmental interactions as a coping mechanism (Durrani, 2019, 2020; Lindgren & Doobay, 2011). Autistic individuals can benefit from art therapy interventions to help with social interaction, attachment, and regulation difficulties. The use of found objects in art therapy can support these individuals to create art that is based on their responses to their environments. This may increase client engagement, support attachment formation between client and therapist, foster emotional identification, meaning-making, and personal symbolism (Brooker, 2010; Hinz, 2020). Group art therapy can provide autistic adults with a safe, creative space to work towards self-regulation, creative expression, and social connection (Armstrong, 2013; Gonzalez-Dolginko, 2020; Suchostawski, 2018). This research paper will explore how a group art therapy program for autistic adults, with ASD-related anxiety and sensory information processing challenges, can be designed using found objects interventions. The research paper will use social justice, somatosensory and attachment perspectives. A 16-week group art therapy intervention program is developed using Fraser and Galinsky’s intervention research model (2010). The research paper includes a literature review and addresses the strengths, limitations and implications of the findings and suggests directions for future research.