I sat on a hillside under big shade tree in a park and watched with pride as the young cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream trundled out of trucks and vans and began setting up the tents for one of our first performances of the season. The two large tents served as the upstage wall of the set as well as dressing room and prop storage for the actors. The metal frameworks of the tents were being assembled in an organized fashion; everybody from the youngest fairy to our most seasoned teenaged ingénue knew what their job was, owing to the fine leadership of my college aged stage manager and his assistant.
As I sat smiling and observing the cheerful actors and tech folks preparing for the show, joking and calling out to each other in the way of all close knit casts, I felt someone approaching behind me. It was Jameson, a handsome, strong looking 15 year old with shoulder length hair who played Tom Snout in the show, doubling in the play within a play scene as the informative and patient Wall. Jameson was wandering past me aimlessly on his way to the picnic area. I called out to him. "Jameson? You need to be down with rest of the cast helping to set up the stage. The stage manager needs your help."
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Jameson stopped and looked at me curiously. He turned his head and gazed down the hill at the cast for a minute, and then out to the horizon.
"Oh, well, no..." he said. "You see, the tent might fall on me." I smiled at him and continued on, "Well, the tent might fall, but it would be because you aren't there to help hold it up while the other actors work on getting the tarp in place. Isn't that one of the jobs assigned to you?" Again he looked at me and away. "Well...yes," he said. "But you see it might fall on me."
This went on for a while, me trying to get Jameson to understand that the entire cast worked together to assure that the set got built correctly and safely, and that he was safe from falling tent frames if he went down and did his job with the other kids. This line of reasoning got me nowhere however, and finally I invited Jameson to walk down with me to the tent building area and delivered him myself to our stage manager, who helped him find his place among the group of working teens and kids.
Jameson, a bright, talented kid with a disarming smile and a lot of physical energy, has Asperger's Syndrome. It did not occur to him to consider being part of the laughing, active group, and he did not understand from what I was saying or how I was saying it that he was required to go down the hill and help.
Children with Asperger's Syndrome suffer from impairments in social relationships and the ability to communicate and understand verbal and non-verbal communication. Their lack of ability to read social and facial cues often leads them to trouble as they blunder innocently into situations that they are socially unprepared to handle. In addition, these children may have an intense interest in one particular subject and will repeatedly bring up this topic in an inappropriate way during conversations.
Their literal translation of idiomatic speech and lack of ability to understand reciprocal speech patterns frequently keeps children with this condition from being successful in spontaneous social groups and individual relationships, and can lead them down a path of confused and inept associations with peers, family and community members.
Experiencing life as an ineffective communicator can leave the child suffering from AS with a loss of self esteem and self confidence. They are often subjected to ostracism and bullying from their peers, which can lead to further feelings of isolation, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, and puts these children at a higher risk of self destructive behaviors and even suicide.
The treatments that have achieved success with children suffering from AS include teaching proper initiation of conversations, response to idiomatic speech and courtesy inquiries, as well as the art of sustaining a conversation appropriately. Attention is also given to the skills involved in interpreting non-verbal cues such as body posture and facial expression, and appropriateness of conversation topics.
Theatre Arts activities are a great opportunity for kids with AS to get practice in appropriate social skills and behavior, to work on projects in a predetermined group of people toward a common goal, and to get actual practice in learning the rhythm of conversation, the nuances of body language and the fine art of facial expressions. In addition, the built-in opportunity for success (for who among us doesn't know that the show must go on?) provides AS kids with an almost foolproof chance to experience the triumph of a job well done.
The communication that goes on between actors on a stage only looks easy, and then only if it is skillfully presented. As directors, we strive to nurture in our actors a sense of truth and human connection onstage, and this must be carefully crafted through the diligent attention to the details of human interaction while allowing the actors to take the information and feedback we give them and make it into something all their own. We ask the actors questions that will cause them to think beyond what the mere words of the script are telling them. We point out the instances when what the character is saying is being hindered by a certain body stance of the actor, asking them to try a new position or perhaps asking them to give us their idea of how the person should be standing, what their body should be "saying."
And when we coach dialogue, we seek to find within our actors the understanding of not just what is being said, but why it is being said and how. Carefully we sculpt onstage conversations with tactics ranging from gentle questions to full blown script less improvisations. Using these techniques we tease out the inner life of the dialogue and set our actors free to make choices for their character's goals in performance.
It has been my experience that kids with Asperger's Syndrome are often very good actors, perhaps owing to the heightened observations skills they develop as they try to understand human interactions by watching how others behave. And my Asperger's students have often entertained me with their quick and quirky senses of humor, which also lends a great flair to their acting.
Rehearsal and performance experiences provide great social skills practice for children and teens with AS. As they rehearse they are treated to subtle training for better real life understanding of human communication. But being a part of a performance group provides more benefits to AS kids than those attained during onstage work.
The camaraderie that is often built between cast members during rehearsal and performance is a perfect situation for a child or a teen with AS to find the acceptance and friendship among peers that often eludes them in many other situations. Actors must work together to create a performance, no participant is expendable. In addition, it has been my experience that kids in the theatre are often especially accepting, friendly and tolerant of differences, ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for kids with Asperger's to relax and blossom socially.
So what about our friend Jameson? I think I need only report that by the last show of the run his mom was in tears as she watched her son helping with the set build, laughing with his new friends and functioning as an integral part of the production. His performance as the long suffering Wall was extremely funny and, though he may have been the most eccentric Wall I have ever seen, he was spot-on in his interpretation of the role and his interaction with the other actors. He had even thought up some really amusing and original bits for Wall to do, and though at first they were a bit stilted, with some directing guidance Jameson's original ideas became a delightful part of the scene. I will thankfully use his ideas again the next time I direct the show.
In my work in the theatre with children and teens with Asperger's Syndrome I have seen that it is possible through rehearsal and performance opportunities to enhance their development and comfort in social situations while at the same time offering guidance on how to communicate with others. Kids with Asperger's are often isolated, ostracized and in despair of finding friends and a place to belong. Youth theatre programs can help provide these kids with a place to find acceptance and appreciation for who they are, for their original outlook on life, and can help them grow and gain confidence in their everyday lives as they struggle to make their way through the complex maze of human interactions.
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Nov 10, 2011 14:44:52
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KidKraft Swivel Vanity - White Feature
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