A Brief History
Setting the Stage for
Social Success
presented by
» Cindy’s background
» Autism & Theatre…making the
connection
» Growing the program
Cindy Schneider
» Reaching out to other geographic
regions
www.actingantics.org
Movin & Groovin’
» Focused less on abstract
language skills
» Age appropriate movement
based theater and music activities
» Skills include following directions,
learning patterns, motor skills,
group behaviors, greetings,etc.
Inclusive Musical Theater
Actors in Action
» Focused less on abstract
language skills
» Teen appropriate movement
based theater & music activities
» Skills include following directions,
learning patterns, motor skills,
collaboration in a group, taking a
risk, building confidence
Acting Antics
» Youngsters/teens with social needs
perform with ‘typical’ peers
» Geared to youth/teens with average
to above average IQ
» Focus is on all aspects of putting on a
musical production
» Focuses on building self-esteem &
social cognition
» Group work, collaboration
» Builds ability to read non-verbal cues,
abstract language, read context etc.
» Actors work on scenery, make props
etc.
» Culminates in performance
» Involves theater games, improvisation,
scene work
1
Neurological Differences
» Executive Function
» Sensory Processing
» Social Emotional Regulation
Executive Functioning
»
»
»
»
»
»
Set Goals
Plan
Sequence
Prioritize
Organize
Initiate
»
»
»
»
»
»
Inhibit
Pace
Shift
Self-monitor
Emotional Control
Complete
Sensory Differences
Social / Emotional
Regulation Difficulties
» Receive sensory information and
process it differently
» Hyper or Hypo-sensitive (seeker or
avoider)
» Can trigger significant reactions or
withdrawal
» Can have a great deal of trouble
focusing due to unmet sensory needs
» Impulsivity
» Difficulty anticipating
consequences of own behavior
» Trouble “filtering” responses
» Difficulty keeping body in check
Theory of Mind Impairment
» Difficulty predicting others’ behavior
20-40% of the
total message
is related to the
specific words said
60-80% of the total message
relates to what we do with our body
when communicating
» Difficulty in explaining own behavior.
» Difficulty understanding emotions
» Difficulty understanding the
perspective of others
BLAH…
BLAH…
BLAH…
» Lack of understanding of social
interaction
Adapted from M. Winner 2002
2
Social Impact of
Theory of Mind Impairment
» Difficulty with ‘appropriate’ emotional
responsiveness
» Difficulties with conversational
interactions
» Inaccurate reading of contextual
and/or non-verbal cues
Why Theatre?
» Recreational activity
» Conducive to teaching social
cues and interpretation
» Interacting is an integral part of
acting
» Difficulty sustaining peer interactions
» It’s fun!
» Disproportionate focus on own interests
» It’s not called Social Skills!!
Components of being an
audience
» Reading body language
» Reading facial expressions
» Interpreting vocal tone, volume
» Understanding the content and
context of the situation
From here on. . .
» Body Language
BIG 3 =
» Facial Expression
» Vocal Tone and
Modulation
Components of being
an actor
» Using appropriate body language
» Using appropriate facial expression
» Modulating vocal tone and volume
» Portraying meaning and context
Rules of Acting
» Never hurt another actor
 Physically
 Feelings
» Listen to the director
3
“Name game”
» Circle formation
» One actor claps across to peer
using all messages and saying name
» Peer then does the same to a new
peer
» Continue as quickly as possible
“The Power”
» Pass clap around circle in one
direction
» The person who has “the power”
gets to change direction
» Eventually multiple people have
“the power”
Bamboozle
» Circle or line
» Director gives a feeling word to
actor
» Actors use body language, facial
expression, vocal tone to express
emotion
» Say BAMBOOZLE using that emotion
Skills in the Name Game
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
Ice Breaker
Successful first group activity
Giving non-verbal messages
Get to know names/peers
Processing time
Motor planning
Focus
Variations?
Skills in “The Power”
» Works on focus and attention
» Must pick up body cues for where
the clap is going
» Promotes the ability to “shift”
» Repetition increases the ability to
shift quickly
Skills in Bamboozle
» Begin to work on the “BIG 3”
» Can scaffold easily to levels of
actor
» Build confidence
4
“Sell Your Partner”
» Demonstrate or have actor
demonstrate how a “used car
salesman” might sell a common
object
» Model exaggerated “salesman”
vocal qualities
» Partners: graphic organizer
“Sell Your Partner”
» Partners interview one another
about skills, preferences,
strengths
» Partners practice salesman pitch:
why should WE want that person
in our lives?
» Used car salesperson persona?
» Actors regroup to audience
positions
Skills in “Sell Your Partner
“Flexible Phrases”
» Person who is “product” sits in
chair as “salesperson” gives the
pitch
» Then switch roles
» Each team takes their turn
» Getting to know peers
» Assign partners in the group
» Recognizing the interests of others
» Give each pair receives a common
phrase
» Risk taking-performing without a
script
» Encourages creative thinking
» Pairs decide on 2 or more ways to say
that phrase to bring different meaning to
the phrase.
» Self esteem builder
5
Sample Phrases
Skills in “Flexible Phrases”
» Collaboration with partner
» Interpreting a phrase-multiple
word meanings, etc.
» Using the BIG 3
» “I didn’t mean it.”
» “Will you come here”
» “Come over here.”
» “I didn’t do it”
» “You better go.”
Two Phrases
» One person is the “pivot person” controls the scene
» Two actors on the sides are each
given two phrases - that’s all they
can say
» Suggestion of a workplace is
elicited from the audience
Skills in Two phrases
» Multiple meanings of words and
phrases
» Using “Big Three”
» Acting and reacting to another
person
» Increasing flexibility
Open Scenes
Open Scene 2
» Combination of common
phrases
Sandy
Excuse me.
» Can be interpreted more than
one way
Maria
Oh, was I in your way?
Sandy
Just a little.
Maria
So sorry.
» Extension of flexible phrases
activity
6
Open Scene 1
Chris
Hey, cool shirt
Andy
Yeah, well I like those
sneakers. Where’d you
get them?
Why, you want to get
some, too?
Yeah, right.
Chris
Andy
Skills in “Scenes From A Hat”
» Working with a partner
» Being attentive to partner
» Using verbal and non-verbal
communication
» REACTING to verbal AND non-verbal
communication of partner
» Analyzing outcomes of
communication
Skills in “Blah Blah”
» Portray meaning without words, with
non-verbals
» Read meaning without words , with
non-verbals
» Conflict resolution
» Reinforce concept that one person’s
action causes a reaction
Scenes from a Hat
» Pair given a common scenario
with a minor conflict
» Actors create dialogue on the
spot, reacting to one another
» Must come to some resolution/
ending
“Blah Blah”
» More abstract version of “Scenes
from a Hat”
» Pair given a common scenario with
conflict
» Only verbalization allowed is “Blah,
Blah”
» Two characters have “Blah Blah”
conversation about conflict
» Must come to some ending
Migration
» Group sitting in circle
» One less chair that participants
» Person standing asks YES/NO question:
 Are you wearing…?
 Do you like……?
 Have you ever….?
» If participant’s answer is Yes, they move to
new chair
» Person left standing asks next question
7
Skills in Migration
» Focus/attention/listening
Props
» Provide a common object
» Perspective of peers
» Pantomimes using is as something
other than its intended purpose
» Must have answer immed.-no time to over
analyze
» Tries to give audience as much nonverbal info as possible
» Formation of yes/no questions
» Audience members raise hand if
they can guess what object is
supposed to be
» Strategies, use of humor, etc.
Skills in “Props”
Infomercial
» Using imagination
» Start with “Props” game
» Taking a risk
» Build up to this game gradually
» Using non-verbal communication
» Use 4 or 5 props
» Theory of mind practice: figuring
out the audience’s perspective
» Team of 3 or 4 actors
Sample “kits”
» Prevent hair loss kit
» Insect repellent kit
» Halitosis prevention kit
» Fire prevention kit
» No more zits kit
» Work together to improv selling
group of props as a kit, for example:
Skills in Infomercial
» Creative thinking
» Teamwork
» Flexibility
» Reciprocity
» ‘Closing’ statements
8
Slow News Day
» Group of 3-5 actors
» They are assigned a common object,
food, etc.
» Group decides who will play the different
reporters
» Create weather, sports, news, traffic
stories with this item as the focus
» Can be very whimsical, nonsensical
Skills in Slow News
» Cooperative group work with a structure
» Compromise and negotiation
» Creativity
» Maintaining a topic
» Sharing the “spotlight”
Taxi Driver
» Four chairs set up-2 front and 2
back
» New person comes up to car as
“driver” with a specific persona
» Other members in car must emulate
that same persona
» Director yells “switch” and actors
rotate and new driver comes in with
new persona
Comments about Taxi
» Rehearse rotation scheme
» Brainstorm different characters
» Difficult for some actors especially
those who are less confident to
come up with a character
» Option to choose from
brainstorming list
Skills in Taxi
» Motor planning
» Attending to fellow actors and
emulating a persona
» “Shifting”- quickly
» Creative thinking
» Increasing confidence so that one is
willing to ‘take a risk’
9
The Final Word
Examples
Theatre can offer youngsters:
» Bank Robber
» Politician
» Elderly
woman/man
» Robot
» Cool dude
» Firefighter
» Cowboy
» S-L-O-W talker
» Movie Star
» Sports announcer
» Opportunity to develop a leisure time
activity that they enjoy
» Build Self-esteem
» Make friends
» Work on social and pragmatic issues
» Have fun!!!
What more could we ask?!
Cindy’s contact info:
[email protected]
Website:
www.actingantics.org
Cindy’s book is available at Jessica Kingsley
Publishers www.JKP.com as well as at
Barnes & Noble or Amazon.
10