ArtAbilitation is an international conference platform for people with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

and a movement that started in 2006 as coined/originated by Anthony (aka Tony) Brooks. The concept was realized as an international conference, workshop series, and symposium, and was inaugurated in

Esbjerg, Denmark Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,554 (1 January 2025)

, in September 2006 when supporting the ICDVRAT in celebrating its tenth anniversary. Selected authors from this inaugural event published their papers in the Routledge International Journal Digital Creativity. The events of ICDVRAT & ArtAbilitation 2006 were reported in the International Journal for

Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

. In 2007, the second ArtAbilitation conference supported the 17th International Conference for Artificial Reality & Telexistence (ICAT). ICAT is the oldest international conference on Virtual Reality and the hosting in Esbjerg, Denmark. This was the first time the event was held outside the

Asia Pacific Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

region. ICAT is organised by the Virtual Reality Society of Japan (VRSJ). ICAT 2006 was held at

Zhejiang University of Technology The Zhejiang University of Technology () is a public university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jp ...

in China. Archives of ICAT2007 are online at IEEE site. The first international symposium ‘Ludic Engagement Designs for All’ supported. The 3rd ArtAbilitation Conference was held alongside ICDVRAT 2008 in

Maia, Portugal Maia (), officially Maia Borough (), is a municipality in the Porto Metropolitan Area), '' Grande Porto'' subregion, in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located 11 km north of central Porto. The population in 2011 was 135,306, in an area of . The ...

, on September 8 through 10th. A special session on music was hosted at Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal, on 11 September. This was followed by the ''2nd International Congress on Art, Brain and Languages'', hosted in Casa da Musica in Porto on 11 and 12 September. The conference combines various areas of knowledge such as

Neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...

, Musical Sciences, Theatrical Arts,

Art Therapy Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art ...

, and

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. It aims for a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to education, disability, and rehabilitation. It intends to question how the inter-related practice and processing of different types of language (musical, psychomotor, verbal, technological, and aesthetic) can intervene in education and disability (motor, verbal or mental). ArtAbilitation 2010 was held in Chile and focused on Human Performance via Digital Technologies. ArtAbilitation 2011 was held in Esbjerg, Denmark, alongside the inaugural GameAbilitation conference. This is the last ArtAbilitation conference mentioned on the official website.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Artabilitation Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities Special education