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Journal of the International Association of Theatre for Autism Vol. 1, Issue 1 (Winter 2010)

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Journal of the International Association of

Theatre for Autism

www.autismtheatre.org


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2010 International Association of Theatre for Autism

Journal of the International Association of Theatre for Autism (2010).Volume 1, Issue 1. Available online at www.autismtheatre.org

Cover Photo: Two actors from the Acting Antics program.

International Association of Theatre for Autism is a global network of parents,professionals, individuals with autism, and others interested in using theatre to helpaddress the issues often associated with autism. It is an entirely free, voluntary, andvolunteer based organization at this time. Podcasts, videos, discussion boards, links, andposted autism-theatre events are all utilized by network members to help spread the wordabout autism and theatre with the goal of positive outcomes for individuals on the autismspectrum. Currently, the network features members from many different countries, andeach member brings his or her own unique areas of interest and expertise to thecommunity. Please visit www.autismtheatre.org to join and learn more.


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JIATA Table of Contents

A Note from the Editorpg. 4

Valerie Paradiz, Ph.D.

The Miracle Projectpg. 7Elaine Hall Coach E

Acting with Special Needspg. 11Anna Greenberg

Setting the Stage for Social Successpg. 12Cindy B. Schneider

Comedy and Autism: A Parallel Universepg. 16Brian Gordon

Holistic Circus Therapies:Empowering People through Engagement in Circuspg. 24

Jill Maglio

Book Review ofDrawing Autism by Jill Mullinpg. 28Parasuram Ramamoorthi

Not Even Wrong: A Sensory Friendly Live Drama Showpg. 31Mandu


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A Note from the Editor

Valerie Paradiz, Ph.D.

In this issue of the Journal of the International Association of Theatre for Autism

the world of applied theater arts comes to life in its fullest meaning and potential. I

hope that, in the pages that follow, you will experience the same thrill I did when reading

the amazing variety of contributions of our writers, all of whom are active practitioners

and innovators in the field of autism and the theater.

For example, Brian Gordon, director of the Spotlight Program, has created a

social skills program for individuals with ASD that is based on the principles of standup

comedy performance. The fundamental difference between a stand-up and an aspie,

Brian writes, relates to bombing or not connecting with an audience. He describes

comic performance as a whole other realm of functional interaction and adaptive life

skills, highlighting in a wonderfully detailed case study just how stand-up training can

assist people on the spectrum with social decoding and dealing with the vast number

of social variables in the world.

Youll also read about Elaine Halls remarkable Miracle Project, a Los Angeles

based theater program for children with ASD. The Miracle Project has touched the hearts

of many through the Emmy award winning HBO documentary, Autism: The Musical,

which documented Elaines transformational work with children on the spectrum. Until

now, she writes, parents watched their typical children in plays and sporting events and

musical recitals and took their child with special needs only to therapies. To see their


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special child acting and singing and dancing in front of an audience was a dream that

these parents never dared envision.

To broaden our horizons even further, we have Australian educator and OT, Jill

Maglio, founder of Holistic Circus Therapies, outlining a curriculum that combines

occupational therapy theory and practice with the circus arts. In her article, Jill lays out a

structured, cumulative approach to providing circus skills acquisition to individuals with

developmental and other disabilities. Her teaching incorporates a wide range of activities

from clowning, to juggling, to hula hooping, poi and staff spinning. She also adds

Acrobalanceor human pyramidactivities and even aerial training!

We also have a contribution from IATA board member, long-time special

educator and childrens theater director, Cindy Schneider, creator of Acting Antics, a

theater-based educational center located in Pennsylvania. Pointing out that traditional

social skills programs have not been very successful in teaching these capable

individuals the skills they need in our social world, Cindy presents targeted and highly-

structured curricula designed to reach children of all ages across the entire autism

spectrum.

Next, is a personal story from Anna Greenberg, a girl with Aspergers syndrome

who has participated in Cindy Schneiders Acting Antics program. To me, Annas article

is the jewel in crown of this issue of the IATA Journal because she lets us know just how

much theater has supported her in developing friendships, greater self-awareness and

confidence and a person with a disability. I liked knowing that a lot of kids have

disabilities, she writes about the classes she participated in. Im not the only one.


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Professor Parasuram Ramamoorthi offers readers a review of Jill Mullin's new

book,Drawing Autism. Additionally, Mandu's article "Not Even Wrong," gives us a

glimpse into the world of theater as an educational tool not only for individuals on the

spectrum, but for neurotypicals who haven't had the opportunity to learn about autism.

Some people say that the theater is like a family. Whether were on stage, in

performance, in rehearsal, or practicing new techniques, we become naturally connected

and interdependent in ways that direct us toward social and personal growth, and most of

all, a sense of belonging. I wish to express my thanks to all the contributors of the journal

for creating safe forums for individuals with autism and related conditions to learn and

grow! In closing, I would like to thank Andrew Nelson of IATA for his generous

editorial support for this issue of the journal.


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The Miracle Project

Elaine HallCoach E

What makes The Miracle Project amiracle? Is it that children of allabilities come together each week todance, sing, and create theater together?Is it because parents have an opportunityto share with each other their hopes,dreams, fears, and joys in a supportiveenvironment, outside the therapeuticcommunity? Or is it because volunteers

and arts specialists, who have little or noexperience in special education, soonbecome experts with these childrensimply by opening their hearts andminds and realizing that children withautism are children first and like anychild need love, acceptance, and a spaceto be themselves in order to shine?

Albert Einstein once said, There areonly two ways to live your life. One is asthough nothing is a miracle. The other isas though everything is a miracle. Forthe past five years I have been privilegedto witness miracles on a daily basis inmy work as founder and director of TheMiracle Project, and for the past 13 yearsas the mother of a minimally fluent sonwith autism.

When traditional therapies did not workfor my son, Neal, adopted from aRussian orphanage at age two anddiagnosed with autism at age three, Isought the guidance of Dr. StanleyGreenspan whose developmental andrelationship based methodology was justgaining public attention. Neal wasextremely withdrawn; he had no eyecontact , spun in circles, banged his

head, stacked cars, and stared at his handfor hours at a time. Through Dr.Greenspans DIR/Floortime model, Ilearned, among many things, thatemotion drives cognition and thatrelationship is paramount. Dr.Greenspan showed me how to develop adynamic relationship and joint attentionwith my son by following his lead,

understanding his sensory needs, andhonoring his individual differences.

The therapeutic community in my townwas not aware of the DIR approach andeven disregarded it as non-scientific andunproven. This led me to quit my job asa Hollywood childrens acting coach andbegin to train actors, writers, musicians,dancers, and other creative folk in theDIR methodology. With the help of DIRcertified facilitator, DanaKaeBonahoom, and the many others whojoined my sons world 10 hours a day, 7days a week, Neal gradually emergedinto our world as a bright, emotional,mischievous, and connected child.

When it was time for Neal to return to apublic school environment, and time forme to return to work, I didnt know whatto do professionally. I literally prayed toG-d for my path and the answers cameloud and clear, teach children withspecial needs to act, sing, and dance. Inthe eleventh hour, I wrote a grant -fortunately got it - and The MiracleProject was born. I rallied a cadre ofvolunteers who were actors, dancers,singers, etc. and trained them in the


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same protocols that had been sosuccessful for Neal. I encouraged themto follow the childrens lead, to see eachchild as an individual, to see eachbehavior as communication to listen to

the child who did not speak.

The first evening of The Miracle Projectwas chaotic. Fifteen kids took part.Some did not want to leave their parentsor enter the room. Others enteredreluctantly, holding onto their motherslegs. Some momma bears didnt wantto let go of their cubs even if the cubswere fine.

I encouraged our team members toheighten their curiosity for each childsindividual needs. One child hid under atable. I guided a volunteer to go underthe table with the child. Another childran around the table in circles. Iencouraged a staff member to turn thisinto a playful game of chase and tag.When another child pulled the carpetover his head, I instructed a teammember to explore this under-rug-world with him and their interactionturned into a game of peek-a-boo.Slowly we brought the group togetherinto one large circle for a group warm-up.

We told each other our names, actingthem out with movement and rhythm.C O A C H E! I say, opening up myarms on the word Coach and clappingthem together on the E. I askedeveryone to repeat it with me. Each childsaid their name with a rhythm or amovement, and together the groupreplied with the same inacknowledgment. If a child was too shyor reserved to do so, we said their nameswith them or for them. If it was too loudwhen we repeated it, we whispered their

names instead, whatever that childneeded.

We then danced together, crossing thefloor with hops, skips, slides and

silliness. When kids flapped, orwalked on tip toes or did other sociallyunacceptable behaviors we applaudedthem. We joined them. We turned everymovement into dance. We learned songstogether, turned their shouts into music,we expressed our emotions andpretended to be different characters andanimals.

At the end of the evening, we invited the

parents into the room to witness a briefsnippet of what the kids did that night.The parents loved what they saw. Thechildren were happy. And our staff wasecstatic.

During the first eleven weeks of TheMiracle Project, we helped the childrenparticipate more and more with thegroup. Up to now, most of the childrenhad been successful only in one-on-onetherapies - one child strayed from thegroup, another was so afraid of beingphotographed, he had tantrums when hesaw the camera; another washypersensitive to noise and spent most ofeach session crying and holding her ears.

Our task was to find ways to help everychild join the others, and we did. Wenoticed that the child who strayed lovedto draw. We brought in markers so hecould join the group, sitting during classand drawing cartoon characters. Onlyeight years old, and he draws like aprofessional. We marvel at his drawingsand, every now and then, encourage himto participate in the group, first for just aminute at a time, then two, then three


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until one day he joins the other studentsand exults, Im participating!

Our videographer, my friend and actingcoach colleague, Kevin McDermott,

approached the child who feared beingphotographed and teaches him about theinner workings of the camera. Soon thechilds fear fades and he comes to enjoyeverything about video. A volunteerbuddy stays with the child who issound-sensitive, letting her know thatshe can leave the group whenever itbecomes too loud for her. He alsoteaches her to indicate in sign languagethe word STOP. He teaches the group to

read her cues. Now, when she motionsfor them to STOP, the group sees hercommunication and quiets down.

As we worked on our musical, thechildren transformed. The child who hadisolated himself is now leading the groupin song. Though he has extreme tactilesensitivity, hes able to wear the scratchyprop beard that the other kids arewearing. The child who refused to bephotographed plays a lead character inthe video portion of our show and isfeatured in the live performance. Wefilm parts of each childs performance asa safety net; if any child gets stagefright they will still have their momentsto shine in the performance. Justknowing that greatly reduces the anxietylevels of the children and their parents.

As the kids rehearse, we have a memberof the clergy meet with the parents tohelp them frame their experiences withtheir special child in terms of their ownspiritual growth. In the monthlyspiritual support group, parents sharetheir joys, challenges andaccomplishments all the whilefocusing on what is good, positive, and

right with their children. The parentsbecome a large extended family. Weshare birthdays, holidays, our kids haveplay dates. For all of us, that persistentsense of isolation is gone. We are no

longer alone.

Finally The performance. Theaudience witnesses what we have beenobserving during the weeks of rehearsal:special children and typically developingpeers, singing, dancing, and actingtogether as a tight ensemble. As theirdirector, I have lost track of who hasspecial needs and who does not. Now weare all simply members of The Miracle

Project Players.

The child who covered her ears standscenter stage and sings to the audience,her face beaming. In the audience, herparents beam back at her, hang on everynote, and shed tears of joy they aretransformed. And the other parents arealso undergoing a metamorphosis. Untilnow, these parents watched their typicalchildren in plays and sporting events andmusical recitals and took their child withspecial needs only to therapies. To seetheir special child acting and singing anddancing in front of an audience was adream that these parents never daredenvision.I am one of those parents too, and I willnever forget the sense of joy andgratitude that overwhelmed me uponseeing Neals angelic, glowing face onfilm as he hit his mark, and hummedsweetly.

Everything that I imagined that fatefulday when I wrote the grant for TheMiracle Project has come to pass. Ourfeelings of joy and accomplishment areprofound. As I had promised, the kids


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take their bows to standing ovations andthere is not a dry eye in the house.

What a gift that night was. We alllearned, as parents of children with

autism, that we can raise ourexpectations of what is possible, we canhope, we can have dreams for ourchildren. That night proved to us all thatin an environment of creativity, love,and acceptance, miracles can and dohappen.

.The Miracle Project is the subject of

the Emmy Award winning HBO

documentary, Autism: The Musical.The very same children who were afraid

to speak out in a group, now perform at

benefits all over Southern California to

star-studded audiences of 500 people

are more. Elaine Hall is the co-producer

of the DVD series, Unlocking the

World of Autism 7 Keys to Being

Miracle Minded for medical

professionals. She is a keynote speakerthroughout the United States and

Canada, was invited to speak and

perform with her troupe at the United

Nations on behalf of Autism Enrichment

Programs, and is co-writing the music

for a childrens CD Fly Into the World

of Autism which pairs children on the

spectrum with celebrity artists, such as

Jack Black, Chaka Chan, and Stephen

Stills. Her memoir, Now I See the

Moon: A Story of Unlikely Miracleswill be released by Harper Collins in

spring, 2010.


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Acting with Special Needs

Anna Greenberg

This summer, my sister and Iparticipated in two sessions of a MusicalTheater camp at a place called ActingAntics, out in Chester County. It was afun camp, for children diagnosed withspecial needs like autism, which I have.Not all of the kids in the group havespecial needs, but most do. My sister andI love theater and have done many playsat home for our parents and

grandparents, but we have alwayswanted to perform on a real stage with areal cast. So, we were so happy when wefound Acting Antics, made just for kidswith disabilities. We didnt even mindthe hour-long drive to get there because,at Acting Antics, we got to perform on areal stage. It was a dream come true. Iliked rehearsing, working witheverybody to put our performance, doingthe finale, and just being on the stage. Ifelt like a real actress getting ready for abig show. One thing I really liked aboutthis group was knowing that Im not theonly one who has a disability. I alsoliked learning the songs that we weregoing to be performing and singingalong with them on the special CD that

the director gave us. Also, the directorand her assistants taught uschoreography, which was fun. I likedmeeting new kids. Sometimes at snackbreak, the kids told jokes and laughed atdifferent things. Some of the kids werewild and liked to crack up other kids.One of the boys was very into rock-music and like to pretend he was OzzyOsborne. Some of the kids were naughty

and liked to throw food during snackbreak. In one of the sessions we madefriends with this eight-year-old girl whowas very nice and was even in a play ofAnnie. Another girl would always lookat us and say Hi Anna! Hi Lena!which was friendly. All the kids werevery nice. I liked Acting Antics becauseI liked knowing that lot of kids havedisabilities; Im not the only one. I alsoliked making friends with the other kidsand performing on a real stage with acurtain. Thats the best part. I like beingonstage for the big finale and puttingwhat we learned all together for theshow. When we take our final bows, weget wonderful applause.


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Setting the Stage for Social Success

Cindy B. Schneider

Persons diagnosed with AspergerSyndrome (AS) lack the understandingof non-verbal communication that somany of us take for granted. A nod ofthe head, a smirk, a change in voice toneis so often misinterpreted or totallymissed by those with this diagnosis. Ifyou do not read these non-verbal signals,you are not likely to send the appropriatenon-verbal messages either.

Additionally, youngsters with AS ofteninterpret language literally and miss themore abstract references. Theseyoungsters often have difficulty buildingrelationships with their peers. For thisreason many of these individuals alsosuffer with poor self-esteem. Yettraditional social skills programs havenot been very successful in teachingthese capable individuals the skills theyneed in our social world.

After over 20 years as a special educatorand autism consultant and 20 years as achildrens theater director, an excitingidea began to form. The idea combinedmy lifelong passion for theatre with mydesire to help students with AS andrelated diagnoses improve their socialunderstanding and awareness. Theprogram developed over the next severalyears, and became known as ACTINGANTICS. Six years later, the ActingAntics Art Center was born. The centernow offers programs for preschoolersthrough adulthood, at a variety ofdevelopmental levels. The responsefrom participants and families has beenextremely positive.

Although we offer many levels ofclasses, the focus of this article will beon our classes that are designed for theyoungsters and adlts with highercognition and language skills, and socialdeficits such as seen in high-functioningAutism and Asperger Syndrome. Afterall, what is acting all about? It is aboutreading and portraying emotions byusing your voice as well as non-verbal

communication. It is about acting andreacting. It is about developing arelationship with other actors onstage. Itis about interpreting the language of ascript. Is that not a perfect match forstudents with the social deficitsmentioned above?

It is important in these classes thateveryone is made to feel entirelycomfortable in the first session.Activities will include on whole groupgames, and simple activities designed toput actors at ease and not put anyone onthe spot. As the instructors get to knowthe actors, and the actors get morecomfortable with one another, the bar israised and actors are gradualy asked toleave the comfort zone and take somerisks.

Humor is an essential tool in ourworkshops. It is often said that peoplewith HFA and AS do not understandhumor, which often involves multiplemeanings or wordplay, which can bevery abstract. However, if taught how tointerpret humor, these individuals oftenhave a profound response to the humorin these abstractions, and are eager to


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grow their repertoires of puns, jokes andthe like.

Our instructors teach some of our basicprefects in the initial class. First they

review the two universal rules of acting.The first is Never hurt another actor.While discussing that rule, our actorstend to discuss staged fighting andspecial effects. Then actors are asked ifit is possible to hurt an actor in a wayother than physically. Discussion ensuesabout hurting feelings, or beingdisruptive while someone is performing,or being hurtfully critical of someoneswork. The second rule is Listen to the

director. Actors are asked what theythink would happen to a movie if all ofthe actors did exactly what they wanted,chose their own parts, and said whateverthey wanted to say. Often we will talkabout a current movie, and the actors geta clear picture of the chaos that couldhave resulted if no one was at the helm.These are the only two rules we need inacting class, because they covereverything!

Next the students are introduced to theBig 3. These are 1) vocal tone andvolume, 2) body language, and 3) facialexpression. These are depicted withwords and drawings on a poster thathang in the theater. Often this isintroduced by having the instructor makea grand entrance into the group. Theinstructor will stomp into the room,scowling and growling with armscrossed. He/she saunters over to thegroup, saying in a low, grouchy, andunconvincing voice, I am so happy tosee you all here today. Generally,because it is so exaggerated, the actorsrecognize the ridiculousness of thewords and have a good laugh. Theinstructor will then ask if the actors

believed that he/she was happy to seethem. They will then be led to identifythe specifics of the instructors non-verbal cues that belied the words uttered.At this point the instructor will often

have one of the actors demonstrate amore positive entrance. We then reviewthe changes in the Big 3 that made itbelievable the second time.

Reading and utilizing the Big Threebecomes a focus of our sessions, butthere are many other skill areas that aretargeted through the theater activities.These include many of the executivefunction skills that are difficult for so

many individuals with neurologicaldifferences. These include skills such asinitiating and sustaining a task,organizing and prioritizing, shifting fromone thing to another. The goal is for veryactor to be successful in each activity,and that success is huge in terms ofbuilding self-esteem. Actors work inpartners and in groups with instructorsfacilitating cooperation and flexibility,both of which are difficult skills forindividuals on the autism spectrum tomaster.

Actors participate in some icebreakersand warm-up games, designed toincrease their comfort level and begininteractions with one another. Theseactivities also assist the instructors ingetting to know the actors beforeassigning scenes. In subsequent classes,the actors are assigned partners and aresent off to work on short scripted scenes.The adults circulate to facilitate, andthen the actors regroup to perform thefirst public reading of their scene.There is discussion about what it meansto be an audience member, and theexpectation that the actors will observeand makepositive comments about their


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fellow actors use of the BIG 3. Actorswill continue to rehearse these scenesthroughout the sessions in preparationfor the final performance.

The scenes we use in our classes rangewidely in reading level, abstractlanguage, social topics, and characterdevelopment. Antics instructors areencouraged to modify the scenes to thespecific needs of the actors, as the sceneswere written by this author. The groupwill also work on a larger skit thatinvolves all of the actors. These areusually shorter, silly skits that tend tohave a punch line. The actors love these,

and it really gives them a chance to worktogether as a company. These usuallyinvolve some costuming and props,which adds to the fun!

Other activities involve improvisationalactivities that again have the actorsworking in a small group. One suchactivity is called Slow News Day inwhich each group comes up with its ownnewscast. In another improvisationalactivity called Sell Your Partner, inwhich the actor conducts a structuredinterview of a partner, and then developsa sales pitch about his/her partner, usinga used car salesman persona. Thisactivity is a great way for actors to learnabout another person, and to begin tothink about their own strengths anddifferences.

On the final day of class, the actorspresent a showcase for family andfriends. The showcase consists ofdemonstrations of many activities,performances of the scenes and skits,and presentation of one of theimprovisation activities. This is a greatculmination of the workshop, and a realself-esteem builder for the actors.

Through these and many other activities,the actors have a wonderful timeinteracting with their peers, and workingon their social deficits, all in the name oftheater. Many individuals with AS spend

years being dragged to social skillsgroups in school or in the community.They often know that they dont get it,and hate going once again to a group thatfocuses on what they do not do well. Itis much more effective to find a programthat is fun and activity-based, and buildthe social cognition skills into thatactivity. Acting is a perfect vehicle forthis as it intrinsically works oninteraction as the integral part of the

craft.

Parents and students have respondedtremendously to this program. Oneparent commented after being in the nextroom during his sons first session, Ihave never before seen my son engagedand laughing in a group of peers for twosolid hours. Thank you. Students whohave reportedly failed in many othersituations have been successful in ourtheater program.

School districts in eastern Pennsylvaniahave been getting on board with thisapproach to teaching social cognition,and that is most exciting. Three districtsbrought our program to the district forExtended School Year instruction, andfive others paid to have youngstersattend our summer programs. OneChester county district has brought theActing Antics in during the school yearas a pilot program in social instruction.Special educators will be trained in theprogram and will be coached thefollowing year by this author.

The Acting Antics program has been runin five different counties, and each


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session has been amazingly successful.There is a tremendous need to bring thisprogram to many communities andschools, so that more individuals canreap the recreational and social benefits.

These youngsters have so many gifts thatstay hidden far too often. My mission isto teach professionals how to run thisprogram in local communities andschools. The world is indeed a stage, andwe need to provide our youngsters withthe tools they need to flourish on thatstage!

Cindy Schneiders book, ACTING

ANTICS, a theatrical approach to

teaching social understanding to kidsand teens with Asperger Syndrome, was

published in 2007 by Jessica Kingsley

Publishing, and has a foreword writtenby Dr. Tony Attwood. Cindy has

presented her techniques to parents and

professionals throughout the United

States and in Canada. Cindy runs the

Acting Antics program in eight-week

sessions during the school year for

students of all ages. Acting Antics also

conducts summer camp programs for a

variety of age and ability levels.


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Comedy and Autism: A Parallel Universe

Brian Gordon

Introduction

A person walks into a room full ofpeople with a very obvious look ofpurpose on his face. His mission: tomake friends with everyone and anyoneat any cost! He is beyond noticeably b-lining for everyones attention. As isusually the case, all heads turn his wayas he makes his entrance. He recites

his prepared opening line perfectly (hebelieves it to be both crowd-winning andhilariously funny). In his mind there isno doubt that humor is the correctformula for winning acceptance. Willthey take to him? Does he even realizethey may not and what then? Its beensaid that 5 seconds is all a person getsbefore he is sized up and some decisionhas been made as to whether he is worththe effort (for now) or he has justinspired some variation of preciousirretrievable moments of joy in life areabout to be sucked out of the universe.In moments like this particularly as itpertains to understanding the effect ofones actions in relation to others, it isespecially difficult for this person to tellthe difference between a ritual and a badhabit. Is there ever really a differencedepending on the situation? Ifconnecting with others is a languagethen it has irregular rules of grammarthat could only have been created by anillogical mind.

Sound familiar? I suppose based onwhere you are reading this there is littledoubt that I am describing the typicalsocial engagement of an individual with

Aspergers or high functioning autism.In reality (and from experience) what Ijust described was a typical moment inthe life of a stand-up comic.

The fundamental difference between astand-up and an aspie relates tobombing or not connecting with anaudience.

A seasoned comic can tell fairly quicklywhether an audience isnt buying whathes selling, not because the productisnt good but because the sales pitchneeds to be altered somewhat this timearound. That is the challenge and thejoy. Stand-up is an attempt to master theart of live communication. A lot ofpeople become comics because they areattempting to handle the reality of beingmisunderstood.

An Aspie assumes the product is goodfor everyone and never attempts toread or decipher how to access anaudience because he is unaware thatthere is even such a necessary thing as asales pitch. The result most of the timeis somewhat akin to a meat salesmanconfidently pushing beef at a conventionfor vegetarians.

By virtue of a comics compassion forsocial failure and a honed skill foreffective social decoding and makingadjustments to limit miscommunicationbetween him and others, it would standto reason that comedians could be ofgreat use in the social/emotional


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upbringing of children with Autism andother forms of social/emotional deficit.

Welcome to my world.

Within a span of five years I went fromaspiring stand-up comic to Autismeducator, counselor and mentor/socialdecoder, presenter at local and nationalconferences, and program director of aninnovative drama-based socialpragmatics intervention, all passionatelyfocused on carrying out social skillseducation for children with ASD andother core forms of social/emotionaldeficit. My schooling for this came from

over ten years and 10,000 dedicatedhours (see: Malcolm Gladwells bookOutliers) of functional interaction andadaptive life skills training in that otherworld of stand-up comedy.

Total Serendipity

Working in special education happenedutterly by accident. Truth be said, I hadnever even heard the word Asperger'sprior to that first employer who thoughtto redirect me into the position of"community-based lifecoach/employment specialist" for a teenwith a diagnosis of the same name.Initially, I had applied for an artteacher opening and decided to give theother job a try.

A few months prior to taking that job Ihad had a simultaneous parallel thought(a realization, really) while on stagetelling a joke: I really needed to get alife! I was working 9-5 weekdays(mostly as a temporary employee -where one experiences all the tormentedanxiety of the first day at a newjobevery day) and then was off to acomedy club somewhere by 7pm (5-6

nights a week). I hadnt taken a vacationin 4 years and finally there I wasstanding there that night on stage withno recognizable new life experiences toconvert into exciting, worthwhile

premises and material. I wascomfortable on stage but that just wasntenough. So I hatched a plan.

I would not allow myself to step foot ona stage for an entire year nor would Iallow myself to visit any comedy showseither. I vowed to live and work in anarea new to me because I needed toreconnect to life in a way that wouldgrow fresh perspective. The position as

community-based life-skills mentor toteens with developmental disabilitiescertainly seemed to fit the description.

My first student was a 19 year old withAsperger's named "Scott" (his parentstold me he had Asperger's because theywere sure I wouldnt know whatPDD/NOS was -I didn't bother to tellthem that I didnt know either). The firstmeeting went reasonably horrible. Scottswore at me, wouldnt engage in eyecontact, spoke about me in the thirdperson to his parents (as if by doing thatI wouldnt hear what he was sayingabout me despite the fact that I wasstanding mere inches away), he askedwhere the hell is the last person! thatworked with him, and then marchedback upstairs to his bedroom, slammingthe door behind him. I totallybombed. His parents lookedembarrassed. I found the wholeawkward experience somewhathumorous. I should tell you that I havecome to view awkward moments asillusions that, when embraced, give wayto greater individual functionality.Awkward moments are not boring; theyare the candy-coated playground of a


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comic. I think I may be an embarrass-aholic.

Comedians dont take bombingpersonally youre in the wrong

business if you do. Your job is to acceptthe possible outcome of social failureeach time you face an audience. Whatwas happening was par for course, didntneed to be taken personally, and,honestly, made me even more inquisitiveabout working with Scott. All weneeded was the chance to see eye to eyeand, hopefully, I would be given thatchance. I recall thinking to myself thathe had a good point and I wondered why

he wasnt told ahead of time thatsomeone different would be coming overto work with him. I felt bad that he hadto go through that. At that moment Ithought it best not to open my mouth tospeak first. To my surprise his mothertold me Scott was excited to work withme, and she knew this because hewouldn't have even come downstairs atall if he didn't accept me as his newmentor. My instincts told me there wasmore to Scott than his history suggested:a person who had failed out of everymainstream public school opportunity,pretty much sat on the couch or behindthe computer all day, possessed nofunctional understanding of the passingof time in seconds, minutes, or hours,hardly ever went outside, was obsessedwith WWII, travel was pretty muchconfined to appointments at thetherapist's or to his grandparents fordinner once a week (to chat about WWIIwith his grandfather who flew in thewar), and who was, coincidentally, a fanof stand-up comedy.

Flash Forward: You Cant Put a Cap

on Potential

Within a year and half of working withScott, he went from a socially phobic

homebody with severe theory of minddeficit, transition issues, very littleemotional self control, and no formalconcept of how time functioned tosomeone who could confidently travelon commuter rail trains by himself,reentered high school, joined anauthentic regalia-clad troop of Star Warsdevotees (Scott was one of four chosenfrom over 15,000 nominees globally tobe in Star Warriors, a documentary

made George Lucas about this troop),overcame serious auditory sensoryissues, went from almost being firedfrom a volunteer job to receiving avaluable employee award, and began,most importantly, to trust himself out inthe world and see it as a place withendless personal promise andopportunity.

For my partI had found new meaningand perspective: I got a life!

Experience at Work

Night after night (and during countlessimpromptu performances whilesocializing out in public) stand-uptaught me to take what people know anduse it as a vehicle to explain what Iwanted them to know, only now I wasputting this to use with students likeScott.

Very quickly I began to see that the skilldoing comedic crowd work wasdirectly transferable to this newfoundvocation. Comedians, most of us, arenatural social decoders blessed with an


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uncanny, innate ability to recognize andassociate vast amounts of socialvariables in the world. It is primarily theperformance-oriented comics (versus thecomic actors) who consciously break

down the wall between themselves andthe audience, night after night, in searchof using this skill to access the channelsof pleasure and logic of an audience. Beit 1,000 people or a single person,through sensing and using information(those relevant variables) for the purposeof constructing, sometimes within a splitsecond of spotting an opening, ananalogy that teaches people what youneed them to know, the ultimate goal in

human interaction occurs: charged,reciprocal interaction. It functions aftera while like a reflex. This is what Ifound brings about the quickest sociallearning and emotional growth forstudents. And, this process is fun, too!

Its also important to mention thatcomedians make excellent social skillmentors because we get rewarded forknowing a little about a lot of things.We are trivia experts, which makes iteasier to align ourselves with peoplesvarying interests. And even if we dontpossess knowledge on a subject, we arereally good at asking interestingquestions in order to learn more andsustain a conversation. Were likeroving, interactive anthropological thinktanks. We say yes to our presentsituation and use whatever is at hand tostabilize a situation and/or elevate it,hopefully, to a place of greater, mutualfunctionality. What we do is akin to the80s television show MacGyver, wherethe clever and inventive nonviolent heroof the same name solves problems in hisown unique way using whatever objectsare at hand. Comedians use pieces ofpersonal information to be Social

MacGyvers. Heres an exampleillustrating this point:

Scotts parents had asked that part of mytime with their son be dedicated to

improving his ability to accept suddenchanges in his daily routine. I usedstopping to get gas as a vehicle [pardonthe pun] to accomplish this task and builtout from there. It began with onlygetting the gas and then eventuallymoved on to pulling up to the store at thestation to get a drink, too. A lot wentinto this seemingly simple act. Hefreaked out about it the first time, butheres how I processed with Scott to

handle these transitions better, ingeneral, while also addressing hisdifficulty in understanding the basics ofhow time functioned. It went somethinglike this:

Scott: [raising his voice] Oh no! Oh no!Were going to my job at cat shelter!Why the hell are we stopping?Brian: Good question. Guess What?(This is a great calming and redirectiontool).Scott: What?Brian: You want to get to the cat shelterright?Scott: Yes.Brian: So do Ibut guess what?Scott: What?Brian: If we dont put some gas in thiscar then you know what will happen?Scott: What?Brian: We wont be able to go play withthe cute kitties (hes crazy about cutekitties!). So, should we filler up?Scott: Yes (somewhat less agitated now).

I started with a question to confirm whathe wanted and then worked with him sothat he was the one who decided thatstopping was necessary. What came


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next made for better relationshipdevelopment and growth in problemsolving.

Brian: Cool. I agree. You want to help

pump the gas or wait in the car? [Ivefound that humans love options andoptions offer agency and agency makes aperson feel more in control].Scott: Ill wait in the car.Brian: Fine by me. Can I ask you aquestion before I pump the gas?Scott: What?Brian: Did it worry you when you sawme going somewhere you didnt expect?Scott: Yeah.

Brian: Would it be better in the future ifI notify you ahead of time?Scott: Yes. [A smile appeared on hisface accompanied by minor flapping eventually I came to understand thatflapping or stimming, for Scott,symbolized any of the following things:regulation, engagement, enjoyment,and/or growth/illumination,]Brian: You raised your voice. Were youangry?Scott: Yes.Brian: Did you think I was trying tomake you mad?Scott: Yes.Brian: I can see how you would feel thatway [Scott: confused/inquisitive look].Are you mad now?Scott: Nonot really.Brian: Hmmdo you still think I wastrying to make you mad?Scott: No.Brian: Cool. Guess what? Did you knowthat you dont have to raise your voicefor me to believe that youre mad?Scott: No.Brian: No. Okay, questionso if wecould do this over would you doanything different?

Scott: I dont know what you are talkingabout.Brian: I mean, if we were just pulling innow to get the gas would you still getmad and raise your voice or would you

ask me why were going somewhere noton the schedule?Scott: I would ask you first.Brian: Would you raise your voice?Scott: No.Brian: Why?Scott: Because you might not be tryingto make me mad.Brian: You mean I might have a goodreason for stopping?Scott: Yes

Brian: Cool. And because you wouldwant to make sure you dont have to getnervous or be angry, right? Really, whowants to get that way if they dont haveto, right?Scott: I dont know what you are talkingabout!Brian: I mean, you would ask first just incase you can avoid getting mad.Scott: Yeah [smile and slight look ofwhat planet are you from].Brian: Im sorry what I did made younervous and madbut isnt it good thatthis happened?Scott: Whatwhy!Brian: Because. Now we understandeach other better and can treat each otherbetter. I know to tell you things ahead oftime and if I forget you know to askwhats going on so you dont have getmad or nervous if you dont have to,right?Scott: Yeah [total look of appreciationand understanding].Brian: Oh my G_D!Scott: [somewhat taken off balance]What?!#$Brian: Wearebecomingfriends(then I make goofy karate chop gesture).Scott: Youre weird (smile)


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Brian: Im gonna go pump the gas nowso we can get to the cat shelter.

Through the use of simple, constructivequestions I was able to validate Scotts

reaction/feelings and move him in thedirection of greater processing. Ivefound that questions activate focus muchquicker than statements. I try to packconversations full of questions. Giventhe initial restricted number of variablesthat Scott was using at the time toprocess that situation, he was perfectlyvalid in reaching his original intellectualand emotional conclusion: anxiety andanger. My job was to provide the

simplest way possible for him to bothrecognize my perspective and learn,more importantly, how to increase theamount of variables that he naturallyuses to better process situations like thatone in the future. That success Scott hadcan be used in the future as an exampleto help with similarly related events thathe cant naturally extract from relativememory for use. As I pumped the gas Istole looks through the window at Scottwhose expressions went back and forthfrom seriousness to smiles accompaniedby approving nods both to himself andwhat seemed like an invisible audience.

During a subsequent visit to the gasstation I discovered Scotts inability toconceptualize time and was able to usehis love of Star Wars to help him.Heres how it went down:

Brian: I am going inside to get a drink:Scott: Why?!Brian: (calmly) Because I am thirsty,need water, and if I dont then I couldfaint and crash the car and we wouldntget to your job at the sheltersocan Iget the drink?Scott: Okay (look of annoyed tolerance)

Brian: You want to come in with me? [atthis point he still was too nervous toenter public places].Scott: How long is it going to take[agitated]?

Brian: Five minutes.Scott: What?!#%. No! Thats toolong!!!Brian: Scott[brain working incrediblyfast right now because comedians haveto be able to shift on a mentaldime]okayguess what?Scott: What?Brian: Remember the scene in Star Warswhere Luke and Ben Kenobi enter theCantina on Mos Eisley?

Scott: Yeah [excited]Brian: Picture thatnow, remember thepart where Han Solo shoots Greedounder the table?Scott: Yeah [even more excited]In theremake George Lucas makes Greedoshoot first which completely underminesthe eventual moral growth that Hanreaches at the end of A New Hope. Alot of people think thats the first moviebut its the fourth!Brian: Totally agree but guess what?From the moment they walk into theCantina to the moment Greedo getsshotthats about five minutes.Scott: [pausing and thinking intensely]Hey, thats not that long.Brian: I know [smiling]. See you inabout five minutes. You sure you dontwant to come with me.Scott: No thanks.

I knew that Scott liked Star Wars so Iused it to explain time to him. What Ifirst needed to understand was that fiveminutes might as well have been fiveyears to Scott he couldnt tell thedifference. Eventually, I was able to usehis love for music (the length of songs)for the same purpose. I even began to


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use music and Star Wars to help himunderstand his own behavior and thebehavior of others. Proper analogybuilding is an incredibly effectivecognitive processing tool for

intervention and social/emotionallearning. As a comic I naturallyweighed heavily on analogies to conveyjoke premises.

Another Missing Piece

The one thing I wished for Scott wasmore work in a group dynamic. Hebecame great at the 1:1 but thriving in agroup setting probably should have been

a precursor to intensive community-based 1:1 work with me. When Scottturned 22 (this is the age whenMassachusetts is no longer responsiblefor funding a persons education) Istopped working with him through thecommunity-based program. Shortlyafter that point I switched jobs andbecame director of the SpotlightProgram. This was a missing piece, aprogram that focused on social learningin a group setting through the use oftheatrical performance, particularlyimprovisational exercises, and all thewhile taking into account each childsindividual interests to be used as anintegral piece of the intervention.

It was an environment where kids couldfocus on having fun and making friends.It is a complement to a rules- oretiquette-based curriculum used in mostschools. Some kids just dont generalizeskills well that way. For example, youcan tell a child to make eye contact ifthey are talking with someone but itdoesnt necessarily provide a functionalunderstanding of why it is important:gathering social data. Theater gamescan be used to provide that why. The

games contain the necessary structurechildren need but with freedom withinthe parameters of that structure toexplore creativity and learn how toconfidently and competently get off

script. Basically, this kind ofexperience allows children to learnsocial skills through the act of beingsocial. The goal is not to build one typeof child but to approach each child basedon who he is and what makes the mostsense to him when we go aboutexplaining all the whys behind all thewhat he needs to know about the socialworld. While learning to functionsuccessfully in a group there is always

individual growth in self esteem andsocial competence occurring in a funenvironment that embraces reasonableexpectations for each member. Its thebest of both worlds. Kids dont feel likethey are part of another therapy andparents know that their children aretaking part in an effective clinicalintervention that focuses on their childmaking and maintaining friends,learning and using social skills, andbuilding solid self esteem.

At the Present

There is still so much to learn and do.Again, you cant put a cap on potential on your own or anyone elses. I stillperform stand-up but I see now that itwas a vehicle to a whole other fulfillinglife. My experiences as a stand-upcomic assisted me in redefining mypassion and dedication to somethingbigger than me. I still work privatelywith Scott and believe me when I saythat we teach each other. I find greatpleasure in presenting to otherprofessionals on the subject of socialpragmatic education for children andadults with social/emotional challenges.


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I also am involved in numerousclassroom observations that lead to greatdialogue with other teachers as they seekto improve the quality of life for theirstudents with social challenges.

In November of this year I was invitedand spoke at a Harvard Medical Schoolconference on Autism Research andModalities of Intervention. I feltincredibly welcome by the other facultyat the conference. Some feedback fromthose who attended my talk included:Engaging and Insightful; IncrediblyInformative; Lively and Entertaining;and [most importantly, to me] Very

Accessible.

Milton Berle once described humor asrevenge. Interesting thought. Perhapsthat was a joke. My sincere belief is thatreal humor comes from identifying withanothers pain or embarrassment. We seeourselves in the same position as the

person before us and the situation is justtoo emotionally charged to do anythingother than laugh about it. Tricky thinghumor it comes without warning andeven more often without apology.

Humor is a pressure valve that opensinvoluntarily to prevent the nervousbreakdown. Without humor our specieswould have died out long ago ofneurological trauma. Additionally, painis just an indefinite period of time in lifeuntil we get the joke.

Please know that I take what I do veryseriously.

Brian Gordon can be reached [email protected]


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Holistic Circus Therapies:Empowering People through Engagement in Circus

Jill Maglio

Introduction

Holistic Circus Therapies is a registeredand accredited private practice thatcombines Occupational Therapy theoryand practice with circus arts as anintervention to address the unique healthand well being needs of individuals andcommunities. Holistic Circus Therapiespartners with circus schools, community

centers, and disability service providersto enable people with varying abilities tohave access to and benefit from circusand performing arts programs.Collaboration has the potential toprovide an effective multi disciplinehealth care approach to meet the diverseneeds of people with disabilities as wellas offer access to and increaseparticipation in community arts.

Background

Holistic Circus Therapiesbegan in 2008after 3 years of study and collaborationof circus and occupational therapytheory by Jill Maglio in Melbourne

Australia. The benefits of a circusskills program to address the needs ofyoung people weredemonstrated after Jill managed aproject with Westside Circus in 2005,

looking at the effects of a circus skillsprogram on young people'sacquisition of life skills. The termlife skills is used as an umbrellaterm for self confidence, selfefficacy, problem solving skills, trust,communication, leadership, ways to

be aware of and enhance physical,emotional and mental health.DuringJills experience and research, itbecame evident that group circusactivities promote the acquisition oflife skills inherent to healthydevelopment that many young peopleare not given enough opportunities inschool or at home to develop. Uponcompletion of a masters degree in

occupational therapy at LatrobeUniversity, Jill continued investigatingthe effects of circus on health and wellbeing while working with children withcerebral palsy at the Brain ResearchInstitute. In 2008, Jill beganHolisticCircus Therapies with the vision ofempowering communities worldwidetowards holistic health. Her skills as aperformer, community circus trainer,mental health worker, project manager,

program evaluator, and occupationaltherapist provide the tools needed toaddress the diverse needs of populationsthat can benefit from community circusintervention. Jill has internationalexperience directing, producing, andperforming art pieces that combinemultiple disciplines of dance, circus, andtheatre with young people of varyingabilities and social pressures. Jill isinvolved with circus intervention

research and is published in theAustralian Journal of OccupationalTherapy for her innovative work oncommunity circus and life skillsacquisition. Jill has pioneered the use ofcircus within the field of occupationaltherapy for a variety of populations andinitiatives, including; mental health,


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special needs, community development,international outreach, Indigenous, andnewly arrived backgrounds.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy is concerned withoccupation in relation to health. Healthis viewed in occupational therapy asmore than the absence of disease, andstrongly influenced by what people do ineveryday life (CAOT, 1999). Althoughoccupational therapy is a very broad anddiverse profession, occupationaltherapists share the belief thatengagement in activities, which provide

a mix of challenging and achievabletasks, promotes health and well beingamong individuals and communities.The occupational therapy sectorcontinually tries to use innovative andcreative ways to help clients achievebalance and greater sense of wellbeing intheir lives. Occupational therapists workwith a variety of people with limitationsin physical, cognitive, and emotionalfunctioning. The benefit of combiningcircus and occupational therapy lies inits ability to enable increased function inthese areas with activities which focuson coordination, body awareness, teamwork, problem solving, perseverance,fitness, strength, and life skillsacquisition, and most importantly, FUN.Circus as a discipline provides a varietyof experiences and activities, whichfacilitate positive emotional, physical,and mental health outcomes (Maglio andMcKinstry, 2007). Occupational therapyand circus promote a better quality oflife using the experience of play, fun,and creative expression.

Benefits

Circus as a discipline provides a varietyof experiences and activities, which

facilitate positive emotional, physical,and mental health outcomes (Maglio andMcKinstry, 2007). Occupational therapyand circus promote a better quality oflife using the experience of play, fun,

and creative expression.

Emotional Health Interacting inappropriately pitched circus activitiespromotes wellness by teaching turn-taking, leadership, communication,empathy, expression, trust, anddependability. Grading of tasksindividually to have a combination ofchallenging and achievable componentspromotes feelings of motivation andsatisfaction in engagement, as well as

increased self-confidence and self-efficacy. The engagement in circusactivities can also provide respite ordistraction from ones current state ofstress or mental instability.

Physical Health Circus skills can begraded to enable success from peoplewith a wide variety of physical andmental capabilities. Many activities usedin circus increase body awareness,coordination, circulation, strength, andflexibility all within a fun filledenvironment.

Cognitively Circus works the brain! Thevaried activities, equipment, andstructured repetition, provide individualswith multiple activities that increasegross and fine motor control, sense ofrhythm and timing, reactions,coordination, bimanual hand use, andconcentration.

Social Health Circus skills assist in theformation of healthy peer interaction aswell as provide opportunities forteamwork. Traditionally in circus thereis a role for everyone. By utilizing anoccupational therapy approach, animportant part of this program is focusedon highlighting each individualsstrengths. Everyone is recognized and


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valued by other members of the group.The life skills learned emotionally,cognitively, and physically, all contributeto how individuals function socially andtheir ability to contribute to solidcommunities.

Most importantly, circus is FUN!Individuals are improving their functionwhile engaged in play. A variation ofactivities provides choice and anopportunity for everyone to find anactivity they enjoy engaging in.Individuals experience enjoymentengaging on their own and as part of agroup.

Recent Projects

REACH- Restoring EmpowermentAcross Cultures and Humanity, is abranch of Holistic Circus Therapies thatcomprises four professionals andinnovative leaders in the Australiancircus community.REACHtouredCambodia in 2009, using circus andperforming arts to help strengthencommunities.March 09, Phare Ponleu Selpak,

BattambangApril 09, Epic Arts, KampotMay 09, Mloptapang, Sihanoukville

REACHaims to promote a better qualityof life for individuals of varying mental,physical, and emotional capacitieswithin developing countries. Theexperiences of play, fun, creativeexpression, and sustainability areinherent to allREACHprograms

Increase participation and accessto the arts for individuals with allabilities.

Address the unique health andwellbeing needs of individualsand communities.

Programs are inclusive of people eligiblefor special services within the areas ofsocial, physical, cognitive, andemotional, and community health. Theprograms are also suitable for

individuals and communities who arenot eligible to receive special servicesbut who may also benefit from circusprograms. This includes but is notlimited to marginalized communities, theeducation sector, health promotion, andcommunity building initiatives.

Organizational Objectives

To assist young people to be empowered

within their school and community byincreasing participants physical,emotional, and mental health throughengagement in community circusactivities.

Short Term Goals

1. Provide a fun, motivating, andintrinsically reinforcing experience

2. Increase positive risk takingphysically and emotionally, in a safe

and supported environment.3. Promote physical health and body

awareness through activity.4. Enable participants to acquire a

broadened skill base relating tocircus as well as more generic lifeskills (i.e. problem solving, givingand receiving physical and socialsupport, verbal and non verbalcommunication and leadership).

5. Increase self-confidence and self-efficacy.

6. Improve social connectedness andteamwork.7. Create a space in which participants

feel a sense of belonging.8. Work towards sustainability,

opportunities for continued trainingskill enhancement

9. Ensure program is sustainable andresponsive to changing needs,


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circumstances, andrecommendations made throughoutthe duration of the program.

Long Term Goals

1. Participants take increasedresponsibility for their own physicalwellbeing, their own learning,relationships with others and role inlocal, national, and globalcommunity.

2. Participants are able to apply skillsand knowledge gained within theprogram in multiple waysthroughout their future.

3. Participants have a greaterunderstanding of the various roles

that exist within circus arts, whichprovide a vast range of options forfuture involvement.

4. Participants use skills to continuallyincrease their capacity to design,create, and evaluate processes as away of developing creativity andinnovation.

5. Participants are aware of variousways in which people can think,communicate, conceive, and realizeideas and information.

Workshops incorporate a mix oftheatre/clowning games and activities, awarm up, a variation of manipulationactivities (juggling, hula hoping, poi andstaff spinning), Acrobalance (humanpyramids), and if possible, aerialtraining.

All Activities are introduced in a waythat enables a balance of challenging and

achievable tasks for all participants, to

encourage increased self-confidence andperseverance.

For more information about projects andresearch completed on Circus and Life

Skills Acquisition, please visitwww.reach4relief.com

References

CAOT (1999). A program evaluation

workbook for occupational

therapists: An evidence based practice

tool.Ottawa: CAOT Publications ACE.

Maglio and McKinstry. (2007).

Occupational therapy and circus:

Potential partners in enhancing the

health and well-being of today's youth.

Australian Occupational Therapy

Journal v.4, 287-290.

Jill Maglio BA Psych, MOTherapyPrac

Holistic Circus Therapies

Community Circus TrainerOccupational [email protected]
http://www.reach4relief.com/http://www.reach4relief.com/http://www.reach4relief.com/


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Book Review ofDrawing Autism by Jill Mullin

Parasuram Ramamoorthi

Drawing Autism is a welcome additionto the knowledge bank on autism as ithelps young people showcase their artwork and tell others: look we can doit. It is an encyclopedia of artists aroundthe world who have demonstrated theirvisual/spatial power. It is quiteheartening to see many artists fromIndia, Singapore and other Easterncountries represented in the volume.

Congratulations to the Editor for thewonderful job of bringing the worldcloser. One can see that Autism has noborder issues and boundaries.

The format of introducing each artist isquite significant:

At what age did the act of creating artenter into your life?Why did you start creating art?What inspires/excites you about creatingart?How do you choose your subjects?Do you think your art helps othersunderstand how you view the world?Who are some artists that you like?What was the inspiration for each pieceof art that you have submitted toDrawing Autism?Anything else that youd like to sayabout your artwork?

Through this meaningful way ofintroducing the work of each artist, JillMullin, a behavioural psychologist andthe editor of the profound volume,speaks of her experience in collecting artworks from individuals on the spectrumranging from 9 to 60 years and across

continents. She was inspired by GlenRus a young artist at a residential grouphome in New York who would drawpassionately every day and would beproud to show his work to Jill Mullin.His drawings adorned Jill's kitchen andJill began to think of the projectDrawing Autism.

I would pick up some of the answers to

the questions posed by the editor fromdifferent artists to show how autism hasdefined their art, not crippled their art.For instance Donna Williams thecelebrated Australian artist says:

I would twinkle my fingers to internalmusic, which would later become

composing. I was taught one drawing at

age 3 and did only the same drawing

until age 9. But then suddenly I drew the

plastic cows of a classmate and thats all

then I drew until age 13. Then I drew my

fathers tattoos and trees with eyes. I

was terrified of artistic expression

because of acute exposure anxiety but

began to paint in my 20s. I began typing

letter strings around age 9 and by age

13 had sprung forth poetry and by my

20s I wasa singer-songwriter

Jonathan Lerman answered that heneeded an emotional outlet; so he startedpainting (The Drawings of a Boy withAutism). Vrinda Chaswal a young girlfrom Delhi has fixations with watertanks. Right from the age of ten shestarted painting water, sky, houses withdoors and windows. Zoe Kakolyriswould paint because she likes it.


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To the question what inspires your art,Caryn Schlosser says: I always have acamera with me. When my friend invitedme over to her house for the first timethere was a scene that really caught my

eyes as I walked from the car to thehouse. It was a stream with trees in theirautumn color. I thought it wasbreathtaking. Noah Schneiderspainting onDavid and Goliath was aninspiration from the Bible.

Stephen Mallon, an architect and 3-Ddesigner diagnosed with autism late inlife states:

Most of my concepts came fromdreams, either while sleeping ordaydreamingsome concepts recur and

give me no peace until I have found

some way to express them, even if the

expression doesnt happen until years

later. Concepts are usually freshest early

in the morning, but the demands of the

day usually crowd them out. Those

concepts that can endure until an

evening when I am free to work are

usually the ones that find expression.

Esther Brokan said that she goes publicwith her art so that it can increaseawareness about autism and awarenessof the talent that exists in many on theautism spectrum and she wants the worldto encourage these talents. David Berthanswered the question do you think yourart helps others to understand your view

in a positive way by saying Sometimesit does. When I draw situations, peopleunderstand that the animal in mydrawing is me. Sometimes though, mydrawings make the distance between meand the outside world bigger, becausethe objects of my fascination are notalways socially accepted. (Vampires,war scenes, etc.)

James Kinneally likes any artist whopaints buildings though he does not havea particular fancy for any artist. Manyhave drawn from their own mind and donot have models to imitate. Zach Hamm

answered cryptically when asked whatelse he would like to say about his art: Iwant you to see that I am happy with theway that I am. When you see me I amalways the same.My house is alwaysthe same too. I like me .And I like mylife in the house. (He likes to painthouses)

The introduction by Dr. Temple Grandinspeaks about her interest in painting

right from childhood and how hermother encouraged her to draw picturesthat others would want to see. Dr.Grandin also speaks about childhoodfixations and how children on thespectrum often get fixated with certainobjects and draw the same thing, a kindof repetition which she wants to bechanneled through painting. She used todraw horses and different images ofhorses while in elementary school. Dr.Grandin speaks of three types of autisticminds, 1) the visual thinker whoseartwork is photorealistic, 2) patternthinkers who are capable of abstract-visual thinking. Their art work isabstract and impressionistic. DonnaWilliams is a good example of this typeof pattern thinking, and 3) the word-specialist mind. These people are goodwith words and not so much withpainting and arts. Finally Dr. TempleGrandin suggests that ability has to benurturedparents, teachers, doctors andeverybody who works with individualson the spectrum need to help theseindividuals develop their abilities

What I find particularly enriching aboutthis book is the hope that it instills in


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every child/young person/adult and evenan old man (someone started painting atthe age of 40) that they can do paintingor some other art form that engages theirartistic-autistic mind.

The book is in 7 chapters and paintingsare classified on the basis of themes andit is a kind of encyclopedic work thatevery school or home that deals withAutism should possess.

Some prints are too fine for the readerand care must have been taken to have amore visible print. Sometimes I had tostrain my eyes to read the name of the

Painter. This is of course a minorshortcoming of the book.

I recommend this book to all parents,teachers and caregivers concerned with

Autism Spectrum Disorder.

(This book is available athttp://markbattypublisher.com)


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Not Even Wrong: A Sensory Friendly Live Drama Show

Mandu

On the evening of November 12, 2009, around 100 people on the

spectrum went to a theatre to enjoy a sensory friendly live drama showNot even wrong. During the post-performance sharing, a young mansaid The play was a complete reflection of my past. I wish all studentsand teachers in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong could seethis play. In the questionnaire, another audience member respondedBoth my mum and I left with tears in our eyes. The Honorable KCCheung, a Legislator in Hong Kong, said in the questionnaire, Theplay hit the theme and made people understand some behaviors ofpeople with autism. It also brought out the issue of respect. Thissensory friendly show allows the people with autism to enjoy dramalike ordinary people. Other people could also understand more about

people with autism during this show.

The novel Not even wrong

In 2007, Eva1

handed me Paul Collins novel Not even wrong. You must read this.She said. I read the book and was deeply touched.

The main story line is about Paul Collins and Morgan, his 3-year-old boy with classicalautism. In his book, Paul Collins also made references to many people with autism, orsuspectedto be, including many famous people in the history like Newton, Einstein,

Mozart and many others.

Paul Collins mentioned one particular autisticsuspect, Peter the wild boy, in great details. Inthe early18th century, people discovered Peter in theforest of Hanover. When Peter was found, he wasbasically naked, except debris of collar around hisneck. He had no speech, did not respond to verbalinstructions except the cracking of walnuts: If youcrack walnuts in the next room, he would rush inand ask for walnuts.

Sounds familiar, doesnt it? If we see a boy with such characteristics, we may suggestsending him for an assessment.

1 Dr Eva SY Lai is the wife of the author Mandu. She is an educator dedicated to serve the people on thespectrum

The novel Not even wrong


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The Hanover people caught Peter and gave him to the British emperor, King George I.The king then took him to London, and asked John Arbuthnot, a famous scientist andphysician at that time, to educate the boy. Eventually, Peter was sent to the HarrowSchool. However, his education in the traditional and strict Harrow School was a totalfailure not a surprise to us, isnt it?

Two years later, an obituary of Peter was publishedin the British Journal. Actually, Peter did not die atthat time. He was sent to a farm in the countrysideand lived there peacefully for another 60 years.

In the modern time, after Morgan was diagnosed to

have autism, Paul Collins only hope was that oneday Morgan would call him Daddy. Morganinspired him to look back into his own life when hewas young and found that he had manycharacteristics similar to Morgans.

The last chapter of the book was subtly touching. A friend of Paul took Morgan to asupermarket and met Paul there. Paul got something to do, said goodbye to Morgan andleft usually Morgan would have no reaction to daddys departure, and he would notexpect anything to happen. When he was passing by the cashier of the supermarket, heheard a small boy crying, Daddy! Daddy! It was Morgan!

The play Not even wrong

In 2008, I wrote a new play Love in the time of California epidemic. The play wasabout the controversial biomedical approaches related to autism and environmentalfactors. During the rehearsal period, I recommended Paul Collins book to the artists andmentioned that I intended to adapt it into a new play.

A few months later, HF Wu, a lecturer of the Department of the Hong Kong Academy ofPerforming Arts and a long-term partner of mine, who went to UK for further study sentme an e-mail, Yes, its a very good story, lets adapt it into a play!

Paul Collins, acted by KC Li, has a boy with

autism


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HF Wu wrote to the publisher of the book Not even wrong, the reply was a yes. PaulCollins granted us theapproval free of charge toadapt the story into aCantonese play. We were

encouraged and excited.

So I started to write the play.The modifications oradaptations I made mainlyinclude -

1. I change John Arbuthnot as the leading character in the 18th century. I did someresearch. John Arbuthnot existed in the era of changes. His father was a Catholicfather who was excommunicated by the church because he did not accept the Britishemperor to be the head of the church. The elected parliament seized most of thepolitical power from the royal family during Johns life time. In my adapted play, theroyal family asked John to educate Peter in order to prove that Peter was a humanbeing. The failure of Peters education in Harrow School made John very frustrated.The fact that he was serving the Christians that excommunicated his father furthercomplicated his emotional reaction.

2. I added the character of IsaacNewton who served as a mentorimage to John Arbuthnot. One ofthe important discoveries of Isaacwas that a prism would diversify abeam of white light into aspectrum. He asked John whyRene Descartes wanted to studyrainbows. While John was findingan answer to Isaacs question,Isaac gave a very simple andstraight forward answer, Becausehe loved the rainbow! Then Isaacsaid, If you do not love Peter,how could you educate him well?

3. I changed the personality of Paul Collins. Just like the way John Arbuthnot treatedPeter, he was too eager to change Morgan. His efforts were a total failure. He readmany books and searched a lot of information about Peter. Finally, the story of John

If you do not love Peter, how could you educate himwell? Isaac Newton, acted by John Ip

John Arbuthnot in the 18th

century, acted by KL Cha,

frustrated in finding the way to educate an autistic boy,

just like Paul Collins in 21th century


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and Peter inspired him: Morgan should take the lead in his own education.

4. In the real history, Peter was sent to the countryside by Princess Caroline, who laterbecame the queen of England. In my adapted play, I changed it to that JohnArbuthnot was the one who deliberately put the obituary of Peter in the British

Journal and sent Peter to the countryside.

5. I changed the last scene to take place in the graveyard of Peter. In that scene, PaulCollins found that there was a 60-year difference between the year of Peters death onthe grave stone, and the time of the obituary in the British Journal. Paul Collinsconcluded that it was John Arbuthnot who arranged all these for Peter. While he wastrying to clarify this matter, Morgan was crying and looking for him. It was the firsttime Morgan called Paul Daddy.

6. We used three differentways to portray the boys

with autism. We used areal child actor to actPeter before he wasseized and Morgan beforehe was diagnosed. At themoment Peter was seized,he turned into a puppet,and at the momentMorgan was diagnosed,he turned into a virtualcharacter the adultactors / actresses wereacting towards a virtualMorgan which did not

actually exist on the stage. All thevoices of Morgan were imitated by anactress standing at the side of the stageat the sightline of the audience. At the

end, when Paul was enlightened byPeters story and realized that heshould treat Morgan in a humanisticway, Morgan was changed back to areal child actor.

The year of death on Peters grave stone wassome sixty years later than his obituary on the

British Journal

After Peter was seized from the forest, he was portrayed by a puppet

(Left). After Morgan was labeled as autistic, he became virtual

(Right).


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In Hong Kong, most of the drama productions can only survive with financial assistancedue to various reasons. We firstly got a grant of moderate size from the Hong Kong ArtsDevelopment Council. It was, however, far from enough. I put up a note on my web siteand contacted some organizations to ask for help. Then we got another moderate grantfrom the Hong KongSociety for Child Health and Development and another personal

donation, thus making the production possible.

Happily we had our play Not even wrong onstage at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre inmid-November!

The sensory friendly drama show Not even

Wrong

In late September, I attended a meeting of theHong Kong Autism Awareness Alliance

(HKAAA). I mentioned the play. Dr WilliamFan, the chairman of HKAAA and a seniorpsychiatrist, responded with great interest. Heproposed and the board approved to have oneof the shows to be a charity show forHKAAA. Upon further discussions, theboard, taking reference to the success of theASA AMC sensory friendly movie shows,decided to arrange the charity show into asensory friendly show.

The horn was blown and the whole community of autism was mobilized. Dr Fan wasthe commander-in-chief. A very senior social worker serving people with autismpromised to take care of the auditorium, while another young and bright social workerpromised to take up the cueing of sensory display boards. Also, a mother took up theticketing work with powerful support from a parents organization.

We did not have a very clear idea of how a sensory friendly show should be. We put ourheads together and decided to implement the following sensory friendly arrangements-

1. House light: When the stage is blackout, the whole theatre will be darkened. Thesudden darkening of the theatre may irritate some people on the spectrum. Moreover,they may get up and roam around the slanted auditorium in darkness, which will bevery dangerous for them. Sealing up the screaming mouth of the lighting designerwith adhesive tapes (actually she did not scream at all and in full support of thearrangements - its only a joke) and disregarding the weakened stage effects, we keptthe house light level at 30% on during the whole performance.

The publicity poster


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2. Noises and movements in the auditorium: When people onthe spectrum get overwhelmed, they might start makingnoises. Some even generate noises involuntarily. Somewould squirm in their seats, stand up and make noises alongwith the performance. We instructed the house staff not to

interfere with the audience. As mentioned, a senior andexperienced social worker headed an auditorium team of 10volunteers, comprising of professionals like occupationaltherapists, speech therapists and clinical psychologists tosupport people on the spectrum during the performance. Ourdirection was not to interfere unless necessary. People onthe spectrum could be largely themselves. They wereallowed to get up and roam around the auditorium. Alsowhen the situation became uncontrollable, we respected thedecision of the parents whether their children should stay inor leave the auditorium, and the way the support team should

help their children calm down.

3. Sensory friendly reminder boards: In the play, there were some sound and light cues,and scenes which were frightening, such as those involved crying or beating. As itwas a live performance, some of the arrangements in sensory friendly movie showsmight not be applicable. We designed some visual reminders to help people on thespectrum and their parents to prepare for the upcoming occurrences. We prepared

some sensory friendly reminder boards, including Frightening scene, Black out,Sound effect, Crying and Beating. As mentioned, a social worker led a team of4 other volunteers to manage the boards. As the stage was an arena with audiencesitting around it on 4 sides, the 4 volunteers sat at the four corners at the edge of thestage. The team leader, who was in the control room, called out cues through walkietalkies so that the volunteers could put up the boards in advance of the scenes thatmight be irritating to the people on the spectrum. They would get prepared and theparents might remind their children in advance.

We made 5 sensory friendly reminder

boards. The man in the photo is Mandu,

the author.

Silence

Sit calmly

Samples of visual

cards used by the

auditorium team


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4. Demonstration: Before the show started, I went on stage and explained to theaudience about the sensory friendly arrangements. We also demonstrated some stagecues like black out and the use of the sensory friendly reminder boards.

5. Interruption of the show: We gave instructions to the actors, actresses andproduction staff that if the show was interrupted, we would pause the show andresume when the interruption ceased. When the production manager considered itnecessary to pause the show, he would turn up the house lights, and the cast wouldknow that this was the cue to pause the performance.

The arrangements were prepared in a conscientious manner. All the distribution ofmanpower was documented and discussed. All the procedures on the show day were pre-designed and walked through, and all the necessary sensory friendly cues on the stagewere discussed, marked and rehearsed.

The ticket sales made us worried. Only a handful of tickets were sold a week before theshow. Dr Fan wrote an e-mail to organizations and people concerned about autism inHong Kong. I was so busy in preparing the sensory friendly arrangements during thosedays, and did not even have the time to ask for updated position before the show. In theafternoon of November 12, a few hours before the charity show, I hosted a post-performance talk after a school show (we had afternoon shows specially reserved forschools in weekday afternoons). I told the participants that we had a sensory friendlyshow that night, and asked the participants to help asking more people to come to supportthe show. Suddenly, I saw Gladys, our producer, making exaggerated gesture to me: theshow had been sold out! What a wonderful surprise!

The show went on wonderfully smooth as planned. The house light was brought up to30%. Despite exposing some of the stage tricks, the audience understood and did notmind at all. We could hear continuous noises from the audience. The cast had to raisetheir voice a bit. This might be stressful to their vocal cords, and might affect the showson the coming days.

One teenage boy showed keen interest in the stage and the performance. He went on thestage three times. I sat next to the production manager. Whenever this boy stood upfrom the audience, he called through intercom calmly House light stand by. If the boywent on the stage, he called, again very calmly, House light up! Then the cast stoppedacting and froze in the position they stopped at. The volunteers moved to the stage andwaited quietly. During all the three interruptions, they did not say a word, but just usedbody language to pursue the boy to leave the stage. After the boy had left the stage, theproduction manager said, calmly of course, Hous

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1 Autism Theatre