Children's Drawings as a Means of Nonverbal Communication: An Introduction

Abstract

Children's drawings have often been used by adults to help them to communicate with children who, for whatever reason, do not express themselves verbally. Sometimes this seems to be the only method which appears to be effective. However, examination of the literature suggests that adults' interpretation of the drawings made by children may not be as reliable as it could be. The concept of children's drawings as a means of nonverbal communication is examined and suggestions are made to enable adults to use the medium of drawing more effectively in order to understand a child's graphic language.