Zoom Autism Magazine Issue 3 Spring 2015 | Page 26

“The stage can act
as a safe place to
practice social skills
and perspective.”

work. How do we teach these social cues and
body language nuances to those who just don’t
pick up on them easily?
Enter Stage Left…
Thankfully, some people are using their love for
theater to help children with autism and other
social communication difficulties learn to match
up these expressions and actions with the corresponding emotions or motives. There are several
drama therapy or theater therapy programs that
are popping up all around the United States and
other countries too. Each program is unique, but
most of them seem to use basic acting techniques
in an effort to accomplish three main principles:
encouraging communication, increasing social
interaction and increasing imagination skills.
The Magic IF…
Acting allows people to try on different roles and
explore who they are, but for autistic individuals,
acting can be a way to learn how to engage with
others and read nonverbal communication signs
like facial and body language movements to tell
if someone is friend or foe.
The stage can also act (pun intended) as a safe
place to practice social skills and perspective.
This is where the ‘Magic If’ questions used by
many actors can really help. The Magic IF technique is used when an actor is exploring his
character’s feelings, objectives and motivations.
IF this was really happening, what would I do?
IF someone did this to me, how would I feel? IF
this was said to me, what would I say? Exploring
reactions and answers to if-type questions and
then hearing how others may answer the same
questions allows the child with social interaction
deficits to understand a little better how other
people can interpret things differently.
Taking the MASK off…

Photo courtesy of Festival
Theatre Ensemble

As you can see, there are many advantages to enrolling your child in drama classes, but perhaps
you are wondering if there any disadvantages?
Really, I could only think of one that may be a
problem, and that is masking. Masking is when