WHY ART EDUCATION FOR THE ELDERLY BLIND?

Abstract

The primary eye diseases causing blindness are of a relatively geriatric nature, and therefore the various rehabilitation centers attempting to counsel and aid newly blind persons find they must cope also with the characteristic problems of the elderly. Identification and analysis of the types of problems this population encounters, through literature on the topic and observation, leads one to the unexpected conclusion that art can play an essential role in the amelioration of these problems. Art and craft activities can provide a process of self‐analysis for therapy toward adjustment; inculcate beneficial attitudes such as flexibility, sensitivity, and independence; and offer aesthetic and social satisfactions to help replace others that have been lost. Thus we must preserve for the blind those asepcts of art that are still accessible to them and nurture their experience in artistic endeavors for education, adjustment, and satisfaction through art.