Child Psychology and Drawing

[lildebs]

My daughter is obsessed with drawing. Has been since the first time she held a crayon. Once she realized she could use it to make images she started a 3 day non stop drawing frenzy filling blank notebooks from cover to cover making squiggles and lines and developing them into little figures that could resemble her interpretation of a person.  

That was when she was around a year old.

She is now 3 and still very much artistic in nature. After we finished a snow man project today she flipped the picture over and drew a picture it looked like a family to me. But then she went on to explain all the elements of the picture to me. The big square around the outside was supposed to be a "Strong House" inside the house where she had done some scribbles was supposed to be a "Strong River" and standing in the river were the "Strong People"

I am wondering what this means? any insight would be greatly appreciated. She is a complex little person and I would really like to be able to relate to her better.

Thanks in advance.
Debs

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There are various degrees of impairment along the spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and Autism is the most serious condition along that spectrum. When a child legitimately displays Autism it is a serious disturbance. Children of three or so often display compulsive-type behaviors and these are not indicative of a disorder.

[lildebs]

Thanks, Yeah I wouldn't bring her in for an evaluation she is a perfectly functional youngster I just wanted to understand her better.

Is there such a thing as Autism that has no real hindrance on social interaction?  I mean she is stubborn, argumentative, moody, never listens and will fight with you on things as silly as which piece of macaroni she wants to eat next, but she is not socially awkward, only lately at Mommy and me she does seem more withdrawn than usual.  Not sure what that is all about unless she is resenting me for taking her out of Preschool and keeping her home with me. Maybe she is just trying to protect herself from the pain she felt when she was taken out of her last school.  I just dunno.

But yeah, along with the drawing obsession she will sit for a great lengths of time: with a bag of coins lining them up end to end and making a design on the carpet, with the letters on the fridge arranging them all in columns and rows, she will pull out all the little jigsaw puzzles and one by one assemble them on the carpet leaving the floor covered in puzzles, or lately she likes to play with these phonics tiles we have, a box of 200 or so and she will sit and tile things with them...

Is that normal? I noticed that even with non OCD adults they will behave obsessive compulsively when their life feels like it is out of control as they seek to focus on things they can control. Is that the same with toddlers? Is she trying to tell me she needs more structure in her environment? Usually I can determine if it is OCD or a temporary Obsesive Compulsive Coping Mechanism by weather it is a new development or the norm. And this just seems to be a facet of her personality... but I am no child expert by any means.

Thank you by the way for taking the time to respond to this.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You would make an appointment for her with a pediatric mental health clinician, such as a clinical psychologist or clinical social worker. However, I must say to you that I see no reason to conduct such an evaluation, and in a sense it would be a misuse of clinical resources. Enjoy your daughter based on your parental affection and instincts. Never mind the specifics of her drawing - they do notr indicate anything about which you need to be concerned.

[lildebs]

What is required for an entire evaluation?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

The only way to evaluate this variable is in the context of an entire evaluation. The specifics that you identified don't have any standard interpretation.