On making tearing of paper a therapeutic craft activity for coordination and sensory development of child with autism

Tearing paper slowly in small steps both as assistive activity and  guided activity can be therapeutic craft activity, if carried out as a procedure-bound early intervention for children with special needs, especially children with autism.

“Tearing and paper sticking craft is a simple yet engaging activity that helps develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and creativity in children. It involves tearing paper into various shapes and sizes, and then sticking them onto a surface to create different designs or pictures. This craft is suitable for all ages and can be adapted for various themes and skill levels” informs an AI Overview.

When being helped initially, the child for early intervention needs to be made to sit in the lap of the caregiver,  therapist or special educator for help and support to get used to conscious tearing off which needs to be achieved with patience and practice both in the school and at home.

Especially for children with autism and mental challenge, special educator's patience, practice and support, it can show encouraging results.

A child with special needs (diagnosed with Autism, non-verbal and IQ of about 50) was introduced to ripping up paper, tearing paper strips, slow tearing off shapes from folded paper (round shape, leaf shape, petal shape, etc.).

Over time, the child learned to hold the paper between the thumb and pointing finger of two hands along  with the tearing movement of each hand in different directions slowly and steadily.

Later, the child can be helped to tear different shapes to be pasted as craft work to shape child’s sensory behavior.