Assessing Portrait Drawings Created by Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The ability to attend to the human face is a striking and possibly characteristic deficit for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study collected and reviewed data on how people with ASD approach the drawing task and represent faces in particular. Drawings that were created by 25 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and 15 neurotypical children were collected for a pilot study of the Portrait Drawing Assessment. Participants with ASD were rated as more engaged and conversational during the art therapy assessment than their neurotypical counterparts, contradicting widespread characterization of people with ASD as asocial. Portrait drawing was found to be successful as a structured, concrete means for engaging in relationships and holds potential as a therapeutic task for developing face processing and face recognition skills.