01/23/2018
Tessel de Jong Wins 2017 DDS Award
Her DDS Study Furthers Autism Research
Barry M. Cohen, founder of the Diagnostic Drawing Series project, announced the winner of the 2017 DDS research award is Tessel de Jong for the paper, “A new way to diagnose autism.” Ms. de Jong is a graduate in Creatieve Therapie from the Leeuwarden Stenden Hogeschool in the Netherlands. The study was completed with the support of Professors Marius den Otter, Celine Schweizer, and Esther Bouma. The continuing support for the DDS by Professor Gert van Dusseldorp and colleagues in the DDS werkgroep Nederland is warmly appreciated.
“This study further develops our understanding of art by people who are diagnosed with autism. Using the DDS, this project provides an increasingly solid foundation of information art therapists can use in planning treatment of those struggling with autism spectrum characteristics,” said Cohen. “Responsible studies like this one can help meet the needs of professional art therapists in many different sorts of workplaces in many countries.”
Ms. de Jong will receive a cash prize plus money to send the participants’ art to the DDS Archive in Virginia, where other researchers can also study the drawings.
