Problems We Address • 201Another child in Jane’s group was more seriously disturbed. At first, because of the extent
of his rocking and his chaotic behavior and self-talk, Larry was thought to be possibly psy-
chotic. He came to the Child Guidance Center for 6 years of twice-weekly therapy while
I consulted to the school and a blind social worker met with his parents. He used art and
drama therapy to master repeated traumatic experiences, and to come to terms with the
blindness caused by his congenital glaucoma.
Expressive Arts Therapy Helps a Blind Boy: LARRY (8)
Larry was an eight-year-old who had everybody worried about him. He looked and acted
“crazy,” and was always threatening to smash things or people. Sometimes he withdrew
into a private world where he would sit in a closet and make up stories, playing all the
characters using different voices. He was finally brought to a clinic for therapy, because the
teachers and house parents at his residential school were unwilling to let him remain there
without some kind of treatment. His parents reluctantly agreed to try the Pittsburgh Child
Guidance Center (DVD 9.7).
So Larry came to the clinic for weekly individual therapy, while his parents saw a (blind)
social worker. Although it may seem strange that a boy with two artificial eyes was referred
for art therapy, he enjoyed the sensory pleasure of squeaky markers and smooth wet clay
(A). At first, Larry made clay “rockets” in which he imagined himself as an astronaut, who
would explore outer space (B). The playroom was a safe “closet,” where he could share his
fantasies with an accepting adult (Figure 9.5).
Art materials often became props in his dramas, and these stories helped us to figure out
why he was acting so “crazy” or—as he would say—“mental.” Many of his early stories were
about a boy getting lost, sometimes on a clay “planet.” Then, for almost a year, he played and
replayed scenes of doctor (C) /dentist (D) /nurse/patient. Though I was often assigned a role,
Figure 9.5 Larry and the art therapist.