AUTHOR=Phong Winter 

TITLE=Beyond the audience: Creating effective engagement strategies for students on the spectrum in the theatre classroom

JOURNAL=European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/european-journal-of-cultural-management-and-policy/articles/10.3389/ejcmp.2022.11086

DOI=10.3389/ejcmp.2022.11086

ISSN=2663-5771

ABSTRACT=Historically, theatre and dance have had challenging relationships with disability to say the least. This challenge stems from ableist perspectives that fail to consider specific needs and experiences of persons with disabilities. At all levels, from youth education to training, to professional performance, opportunities are limited. Often, performing arts engagement is limited to audience seats for individuals with disabilities, more frequently this focus is on relaxed performances geared toward those identified as autistic. As the prevalence of autism diagnoses have increased, theatre and dance courses must rethink engagement practices. An observational study using symptom domains for autism was developed to measure theatre and dance engagement through learning objectives of behavior, communication, and social interaction. theatre, dance, education, autism, engagement