Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 89

Abstract
Recent psychology studies suggest theater may prove a helpful tool in helping the social and
cognitive development of those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 1 In laboratories and theaters
across America, educators, theater practitioners, and psychologists have been improving and
studying the relationship between the communities of Autism Spectrum Disorder and theater.
This paper will identify some of the key methods educators, theater practitioners, and
psychologists use to include members of the ASD community into theater projects, and how
inclusion help individuals adapt into more mainstream environments, provide therapeutic care,
and generally enhance the lives of each participant. The directional focus of the organizations
these individuals work for can be divided into two: the research of theater as a therapeutic tool
for those with ASD (therapeutic-minded), or for the exercise of artistic expression by and for
those with ASD (artistic-minded). ​ This paper, in addition to analyzing the relationship between
ASD and theater, will make a claim for which group, therapeutic or artistic, is in more need. This
research has informed how a non-profit organization, the Reality Room Theatre Company,
handles work with ASD participants in their theater programs.
Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), theater practitioners 2 , artists 3
Admittedly there is a complicated debate between referring to someone as an “autistic individual” or “an individual with autism.” I will use “an
individual with autism” for continuity during this paper. As I am no expert on this debate refer to Lydia Brown’s article on first-language
selection for more thought (see references).
1
A theater practitioner, for the sake of this paper, is anyone who facilitates the development of theater to any capacity. This includes the 11th
grade English teacher who decides to stage “Hamlet” at his/her school. It also includes the choreographer for a Broadway production of “The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Let the label be as encompassing or restrictive as needed.
2
This is to differentiate between the theater practitioner and the “performer.” In this paper, it is implied that the artists with ASD will be
performers-first in the space. Those with ASD can be theater practitioners. However, for the gross amount of those with ASD and those without
ASD performance is a first step into the theater community. There are other ways to explore inclusivity of those with ASD in the theater
community. Hopefully the implications of the “artist with ASD-inclusivity” will guide endeavors to include those with ASD.
3