Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 94

It is a theatrical intervention program based at Vanderbilt University to “improve
socioemotional functioning and reduce stress in children with autism spectrum disorder”
(Corbett et al., 2010). They use modeling techniques to convey proper social behaviors to
individuals with ASD (Corbett et al., 2010). Theater uses similar principles to modeling
in helping “individuals identify key social cues” as well as developing skills in
“communication, movement, pretend play, and social interaction” (Corbett et al., 2010;
McAfee, 2002; Peter, 2003). The participants perform in a musical. During the rehearsal
process actors without ASD are assigned a participant to model behavior through
mimicry and blocking. The participants study their partner's gestures for their
performance. The program is still running and collecting research data to evaluate if their
program can have the desired effects on the participants. The initial data observed in the
first year of the program was promising.
II.
4th Wall Theatre Company (Detroit, MI)
The 4th Wall Theatre Company is complicated. They teach students how to sing, dance,
and act much like P94M, but they focus on teaching “proper” social behavior. In
addition, they have a wide range of special education participants, not just students with
ASD. They have a multitiered curriculum to handle the diversity of participants for any
given one hour session (Mann, 2016). For example, for they have a hat game where each
participant gets a hat and pretends to be a character associated with that prop. Some
students will embrace this opportunity and create a character. Others will find success
just by finding the courage to approach the stage and take a hat. Katie Mann, CEO and
founder of 4th Wall, describes this as her way of gauging her students (Mann, 2016).
Once she or her other instructors figure out the climate for the class they adjust the
curriculum on the fly to fit their needs. The organization is made up of mostly part-time
special education teachers and artists in the Detroit metro area.
III.
The Miracle Project (Los Angeles, CA)
Like the 4th Wall Theatre Company, The Miracle Project has a fuzzy line
between being a therapeutic-minded organization or an artistic-minded one. Part of this is
The Miracle Project’s commitment to giving children with ASD opportunities to work
with film and theater. However, much like 4th Wall, they use a specific curriculum with
the help of film and theater to teach students communication and social skills.
IV.
Trinity Rep’s Active Imagination Network (Providence, RI)
Trinity Rep found TRAIN in 2010 in response to the rise of ASD diagnoses
(Butterfield, 2014). They partner with multiple organizations throughout Rhode Island to
provide young students with ASD an opportunity to build important social skills. In the
program’s initial year, they performed multiple shows with students ranging from
nonverbal to verbal capacities. It has since transitioned to more classroom and workshop
based activities to help students create more long lasting relationships (Butterfield, 2014).
V.
The Hunter Heartbeat Method (Touchstone Shakespeare Theatre and Ohio State
University)
It is a “​ a drama-based social skills intervention designed to improve the social
interaction, pragmatic language, and facial-emotion recognition skills of individuals with
autism spectrum disorder” (Mehling et al., 2016). The method was discovered by Royal
Shakespeare Company actress, Kelly Hunter, during her work with children with autism
in Bromley, England (Hunter, 2013). She uses a “heartbeat hello” exercise to help