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Hey everybody, at the Nursing home at which I'm employed, there is a CNA who has a brother a year younger than myself (18) who has down syndrome. He is a very nice guy, and from what shes told me, he enjoys doing arts and crafts, Loves the color red and is a huge Fan of Iron man. So after hearing that I immediately I thought about teaching him how to paint a Blood angels space marine. So I had asked if he would be interested and they both agreed. so at about 4:30 this afternoon Im going to my work to paint with him.


My main question is if anyone could give me advice on the best way to teach him, Im going to keep things extremely basic, so anyone whos had experience with this kinda stuff would
you guys mind sharing some of your knowledge? I would greatly appreciate it


,Moartiki

Yeah, I would just say keep it simple and supportive. Also, I would bring it aready primed, but other than that I dont really know. Great thing you're doing.

Absolutely brilliant thing you are doing, I am very moved that you would support someone and help them in this way. I would say be simple, an alternative strategy is to help him on the way by using Spray Paints.

e.g. Take the models, Spray them Army Painter red, then he can do the detailing and it will be alot quicker project and he will probably not get as frustrated as he would by a slower method.

Either way let me know how you get on as I think this is one of the most worthy threads I have seen on Dakka for a long while.

You might want to look into dipping.

Army painter + basic painting + dipping can get some very good results, very fast.

Thankyou for the kind words and the thoughts guy, but it really is just something that I think he might like, so I would love to help him out.

Right now I already de mold lined the space marines and primed them white.

I think the steps we'll take are:

Paint entire model Blood red
Paint metals boltgun
wash red with either devlan mud or leviathan purple
wash metals with badab black
and then if he would like he could try doing details like the eyes or something, or I'll see if he would like me to do those for him.

shouldnt be difficult at all

I prepared a space marine for me to paint along side him, so that he has the visuals to help him out

I wonder if I should bring my basing sand and my elmers glue to base the marine as well so he could take home a complete marine.

, Moartiki

Honestly, what you've listed there is the best way to do it. Don't spray basecoat them for him though, it's well meaning but ultimately self-defeating. People with disabilities have enough done for them already - and often too much - so letting him do it himself - with you guiding and supporting by doing your own marine and helping when he asks is the best way.

Just make it clear from the start that if he asks, you'll help him - but make him ask - don't offer constantly. And if/when he asks, do as little as possible and then give the control back to him asap. If he's becoming visibly frustrated and upset, that's the time to step in and help. It it comes to you doing the last bits of detail, then fair enough, but demo things like washes on your model and let him do them himself. All of this is so that he gets as much of the experience of doing it as possible - and the satisfaction of feeling that he's pretty much painted the model himself rather than sitting and watching you make it for him.

Bring your basing stuff as well, by all means. He might be able to base his own figure, assuming it's some glue on base and a covering in sand, followed by a shake. Maybe skip the sand-painting step and you're golden.

Let us know how it goes.

I honestly never considered the Idea that Spraying the model is a bit self--defeating and after have ready your reasoning I am now inclined to agree. I suppose you could Demo how to Spray them in a Box and he could do it?

That said all of your advice seems very logical and tactful, It seems you have some experience in this field?

Really great, what you are doing!

I agree with the others, the worst thing you could do is to do too much for him - he may be handicapped, but you still should let him do most of the work as best he can, so he will have a real sense of achievement when he's done.

Good luck and god bless,


IK-Painter

Scipio.au put some very good methods. I've had experience teaching teens and kids with various mental disabilities including Down syndrome and much that has been stated is spot on.

-Definitely do your own model alongside him. It is a great visual representation that will allow him to follow along and make it easier on you and avoid possible frustrations.
-Let him do just as you do, start to finish. Independence empowers everyone, and having something to call your own is incredibly gratifying. As far as the spray subject goes, I don't think it will be too big of a deal so long as both yours and his models are primed.
-If he wants to paint his guy differently, let him go ahead. Bring a few other paints than what is in the usual color pallet. Maybe some yellow since hes big into Iron Man.
-If he gets frustrated, maybe let him take a pause away from the model and watch you for a bit. Possibly changing the subject and converse for a few minutes if need be.
-Keep in mind its not just you teaching him, its an activity. The end result is not always as important as the process itself.
-And obvious, offer supportive advice and comments that will make him feel good about his model.

I think its a very cool thing youre doing man and hope he enjoys it and you do too!

Edit: Wow my grammar is apparently as poor as my editing this morning...

wonderful idea! I remember a few years back one of my close friends did the same with his little brother who also has down syndrome. I remember we used to sit and paint for hours and he used to be right there with us, was quite fun actually. What we did was show him some pictures of different miniatures, just like youd normally do and he would just pick the ones he wanted to paint and we would give him little pointers along the way, like how to make sure you get enough paint on the brush. Simple stuff like that. He was 13 at the time and he really enjoyed it. I think more than anything he just enjoyed hanging out with the big boys but he seemed to like the painting aspect too .

Well since he likes red and iron man, just like suggested above bring a few different reds, yellow and golds. Not too much but enough for the choice there. Also rather than paint it up like a blood angel, maybe paint it up like iron man with the gold/yellow on various parts of the arms, legs and head.

Perhaps gold would be better than yellow due to the annoyance of trying to get it to coat evenly, it may cause more frustration to them than it is worth. Also if you have the time maybe get the space marine to have the torso with just the skull on it rather than the wings. This way you have the option of shaving it off, drilling it and turning it into the arc reactor. Ice blue would be an easy and decent colour to use for it.

Question: Who's this CNA you speak of and how did you meet her? Is she pretty?

I've got a lot of expereince with working with children and teens with special needs.

One important thing to remember is don't get your hopes up too high on the quality of the final models. Down's syndrome manifests itself in a broad variety of ways but, in general, fine motor skills will be learnt at a much slower pace than with more able people. These skills are learnt through repetition, but are not neccessarily transferable to him.

Demonstrating alongside will be important, but don't expect his interpretation of your actions to contain much subtlety - a paint brush stroke is a paint brush stroke.

Finally, allow him full expression and let him do what he thinks is right (or fun).


Down's syndrome teens can be absolutely lovely, I have found nothing quite as rewarding as watching the slow steps of progress as they develop and grow. Enjoy the experience.

LumenPraebeo wrote:Question: Who's this CNA you speak of and how did you meet her? Is she pretty?

Yea... I kinda knew this would pop up, but no Im not interested in the CNA, shes way older (not into that sort of thing) I have a girlfriend, and I legitly just wanted to see if this would be something her brother would be interested in.


so this is what happenned yesterday:

I came in with my stuff and painted with him one space marine, I just had him cover the whole thing red, he was really enjoying it, and he looked extremely happy with what he had done, which ofcourse put a smile on my face, unfortunately thats all we were able to do since he had to leave shortly after he finished, but its definitely something I'll remember.

Im thinking about finishing it up for him, and giving it to him as a present to remember that day, what do you guys think?

Is this something that could possibly be an ongoing thing? If so, then I would leave it as is and let him finish it. A sense of accomplishment is an amazing thing even for people without disabilities. Imagine how he'll feel every time he looks at a piece he did all by himself.

If however either of you are not able to continue on, then yeah I'd finish it up for him.

Buy some cheap Iron man hero clix on ebay. Prime them and let him do what he wants. Then you will avoid feeling bad if he trashes a expensive model, and he will feel even better because its ironman.

Clthomps wrote:Buy some cheap Iron man hero clix on ebay. Prime them and let him do what he wants. Then you will avoid feeling bad if he trashes a expensive model, and he will feel even better because its ironman.

Im not really worried about the price at all, since the marine is from the aobr set, which was given to me, so...just kinda paying it forward.

Good points from several others - both on paint colours and working with people with special needs - don't get hung up on Blood Angels - he might be making his own chapter - Iron Men!

If at all possible, try to organise 1 or even 2 more sessions to finish the figure. Even if you do the eyes and base in the end, try to find the time so he can finish the main stuff.

You don't have to make it a regular thing for months or the rest of your life, but if he has the opportunity to meet with you once or twice more to finish the figure (or near-enough) then it'll mean that much more to him in the future. And probably, to you as well.

astrocat wrote:I've got a lot of expereince with working with children and teens with special needs.

One important thing to remember is don't get your hopes up too high on the quality of the final models. Down's syndrome manifests itself in a broad variety of ways but, in general, fine motor skills will be learnt at a much slower pace than with more able people. These skills are learnt through repetition, but are not neccessarily transferable to him.

Also, depending on the severity of the condition 28mm may or may not be the most fun thing for him to paint. If he seems to get frustrated maybe you can try again later by priming some 6" Marvel action figures and painting those with him.

If he is having a problem with fine motor skills or just working on such a small object, get the Space Marine statue from the terrain set, prime that and let him have at it.
Something more substantial, larger details to work with, and it becomes a nice size trophy he can set in the bookcase.
In either case 1000+ interwebs to you. Your doing a great thing.
(and may karma let you win your next major GT)

Perhaps smaller steps would be another approach.

Paint up some groups of legs, heads, torsos etc in different colors yourself. Let him pick how he wants the figure to look .... ie yellow legs with thre red body. Either assist or have him put them together himself. Painting the base before the figure is mounted would be a good test of his motor skills with perhaps a large base to mount several figures as a start. This may get him intrested in the process to progress to painting his own colors later for the smaller parts.

keep this in mind, its a quote I think would help

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
-George S. Patton

Battle Brother Lucifer wrote:keep this in mind, its a quote I think would help

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
-George S. Patton

Have you worked with learning difficulties much?

Before the summer holidays I was in a food tech class with a group of 14-15 year olds. The teacher asked one girl to fetch a collinder. She did and asked, "what shall I do with this?"

"Oh, just fill it up with water," he replied, as we shared a cheeky smile.

Half an hour later...

Although not DS, for the last 7 years I have been working with Autistic teens/adults and so from my personal experience would probably just suggest make it as fun as possible but also try not to forget that they are 'learning dis' so always be alert and try not to get to distracted with the painting yourself. Also try to make it a mentally stimulating environment, just sitting painting can be fun and could easily be sufficiant for them but if they have some music they may want to listen to to help avoid bordom or talk to them about the hobby if they are willing to listen and discuss to keep them interested. Most of all promote independence and creativity, if they want to deviate from a colour scheme or paint shapes etc on the model then that should be fine, at the end of the day it's more about the experience than the painted model itself.

Hopefully you can make it a continued thing but if not, the idea of making it a keepsake for them, if you finish it or they do, is a great idea.

GL&HF

astrocat wrote:

Battle Brother Lucifer wrote:keep this in mind, its a quote I think would help

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
-George S. Patton

Have you worked with learning difficulties much?

Before the summer holidays I was in a food tech class with a group of 14-15 year olds. The teacher asked one girl to fetch a collinder. She did and asked, "what shall I do with this?"

"Oh, just fill it up with water," he replied, as we shared a cheeky smile.

Half an hour later...

I havent. I tend to think of the quote as saying

'get all the sides to be the same color'
Rather then telling them exactly what to do to the cube to get it finished

Keep in mind that a wide range of ability, interest, artistic vision, motivation and hand-eye coordination is to be expected in any population of people, including this one.

I seem to recall seeing an exhibit three or four years back of Lithiographs done by some artists with Downs from central America that were stunningly complex and took many hours to complete.

Can't really respond without saying things that have already been said.
Either way, awesome thing you are choosing to do.