Specialisterne: leveraging the unique skills of Autistics at competitive market terms

[Visionary7903]

Andrew Nelson, author of Foundation Role Plays for Autism: Role Plays for Working with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Parents, Peers, Teachers, and Other Professionals, is a colleague and friend of Cindy Schneider, the subject of my last post. Nelson is the founder of the Autism Theatre Network, and a Positive Behavior Support Trainer with the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University.

Doug Berky is a family theatre performer and also a creator of exquisite handmade masks. After the 2011 Applied Theatre Conference, Andrew Nelson and Doug Berky started talking about how his masks might contribute to theatre therapy and Autism, and Nelson started using them in his work in West Virginia…

…One of my favorite theatrical tools is the mask. Masks can be used in a wide variety of ways to teach emotion recognition, body awareness, emotional expression, subtle social cues and postures, etc. …we are conducting a role play and using masks to depict the emotions often seen in bullying situations, and how different outcomes can change the mask from happy to sad, etc…

These theatrical tools (masks) may also work well to lower the inhibitions of individuals on the Autism Spectrum, who are often self conscious…

…For 3 hours on December 17, 2011 I [Applied Theatre Center (ATC) Executive Director Dale Savidge] was privileged to participate in a theatre workshop with a group of teens and young adults on the autism spectrum in Anderson, IN. Doug Berky… and Andrew Nelson… led us through a series of theatre games and mask work. The 8 young men and their teachers entered in with enthusiasm and afterward expressed how much they enjoyed and benefited from the mask theatre exercises.
The young men tried on expressive masks (masks created with an identifiable emotional expression), animal masks and character masks. It was fascinating to observe them enter into these ‘characters’ as they played out scenarios and interviews. Their bodies became animated; their voices ranged widely in volume and inflection. The masks provided the guys a safe space to hide in as well as a way to express themselves…

Here is a short video of Doug Berky talking about his work: Applied Theatre Center (ATC) - A conversation with Doug Berky - YouTube

(sources: JKP Authors Andrew Nelson and Cindy Schneider share Autism-Theatre Techniques with specialists from Hong Kong JKP blog - Jessica Kingsley Publishers; Applied Theatre in Action: Mask Theatre Workshop)