The effectiveness of painting therapy on the visual-motor skills of children with intellectual disabilities

Objectives. Children with intellectual disabilities often exhibit delays in visual-motor development, necessitating specialized rehabilitation programs. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of painting therapy in improving the visual-motor skills of children with intellectual disabilities. Materials and methods. This quasi-experimental study, using a pre-test–post-test control group design, was conducted in Roshtkhar County, Iran. Thirty children with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (IQ 50–70), aged 9–12 years, were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). The experimental group received eight 60-minute sessions of painting therapy. Visual-motor skills in both groups were assessed before and after the intervention using the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI). Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results. ANCOVA revealed a statistically significant improvement in visual-motor skills in the experimental group (F(1, 27) = 59.17, p < 0.001) compared to the control group, after adjusting for pre-test scores. Conclusions. Painting therapy appears to be an effective intervention for enhancing visual-motor skills in children with intellectual disabilities. Incorporating visual arts into educational and therapeutic programs may offer an engaging and developmentally beneficial approach for this population.