People’s Light & Theatre Participates In Autism Study
In Spring 2011 Suzanne Reading, Ph.D., Director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program at Butler University, and James M. Reading, Ph.D. of CARE conducted a study to analyze how theatre affects the social skills of students with autism. Sixteen students from The Pathway School in Norristown, PA participated in the study—eight students who volunteered to engage in a theatre project and eight controls who did not participate. The theatre project was led by Resident Director Samantha Bellomo of People’s Light & Theatre, as well as Pete Pryor, Director of the Drama Program at The Pathway School and Associate Artistic Director at People’s Light. The study concluded that students who participated in the theatre project displayed significant improvements in social behaviors.
Beginning in March 2011, coinciding with People’s Light’s production of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, eight students from The Pathway School came to People’s Light once a week for ten weeks to rehearse their own production of the play. Under the guidance of Bellomo and Pryor, the students constructed portions of a set, costume pieces, and props, while learning lines and rehearsing scenes. Speech-language pathologists Suzanne and James Reading developed a rating of 24 social behaviors to monitor the students’ progress. Students were given a rating prior to beginning the project, then again after the project was completed. Upon completion of the project, the eight students exhibited significant gains in four particular social behaviors compared to the control subjects. The behaviors were: displaying appropriate emotions, offering to help without prompting, controlling temper, and acknowledging the perspective of others.
“Theatre often brings out the best in a person with autism, because it utilizes skills in memorization,” Dr. Suzanne Reading explains. “Cooperation and communication skills, however, can be a challenge. Theatre provides a fun factor that gave these students a place and a purpose. The desirable social behaviors were not taught directly; the students were motivated to improve intrinsically through the experience of rehearsal and performance.”
Director Samantha Bellomo illustrates, “In working on the scenes from Tom Sawyer with the students, we treated the project just like we would any other performance. The students were expected to learn their lines and to understand what they were saying in each scene and why. Whenever a student had an emotional meltdown, he or she was removed from the room and the other students would continue working. In theatre the show must always go on. However, as the weeks progressed, fewer and fewer meltdowns happened. The students adjusted their temperaments so they could continue participating in scenes with the group.”
Dr. Reading confirms, “We tend to forget that individuals with disabilities are often treated differently. But everyone wants to feel useful and that the world has a place for us. Through this study, we can see that theatre provides purposeful and joyful work for people with autism.”
ABOUT PEOPLE’S LIGHT
People’s Light, a professional, not-for-profit theatre in Chester County, Pennsylvania, makes plays drawn from many sources to entertain, inspire, and engage our community. We extend our mission of making and experiencing theatre through arts education programs that excite curiosity about, and deepen understanding of, the world around us. These plays and programs bring people together and provide opportunities for reflection, discovery, and celebration. Founded in 1974, we produce seven to nine plays each season, in two black box theatres with 350 and 170 seats respectively, mixing world premieres, contemporary plays, and fresh approaches to classic texts for our 6-Play and Discovery Series.
ABOUT THE PATHWAY SCHOOL
The Pathway School is a nonprofit approved private school founded in 1961 that serves students with neurological impairment, including Autism Spectrum Disorders, learning and other psychological disorders. Pathway was one of the first schools in the nation to unify the disciplines of psychology, psychiatry, medicine, social work, and education. Find a place at Pathway, where we build academic, social and life skills in students with special needs to promote their success and independence after Pathway.
BIOS
Suzanne Reading, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an Associate Professor and Director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program at Butler University. Her research interests encompass all aspects of communication ability, including language and literacy development in children. Her research is often accepted for presentation at the annual American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention.
James M. Reading, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist in private practice. He is the Owner/President of Communication and Reading Excellence, PC, (CARE), an organization dedicated to serving individuals with communication disorders and their families. His research interests include aspects of early language learning and social communication.
Samantha Bellomo is currently the Resident Director at People’s Light and has worked on over 30 productions at People’s Light as a fight director, choreographer, assistant director, or director. She is the Director of the People’s Light Subscription Teen Engagement Program (STEP) and has been a guest teaching artist at The Pathway School since January 2011. Past choreography credits include: The McCarter Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Lantern Theatre, 1812 Productions, Delaware Theatre Company, Act II Playhouse, Mauckingbird Theatre Company and Villanova Theatre. She co-founded Dancing With The Students, a non-profit organization that offers ballroom dance instruction to 5th – 8th grade students in North Philadelphia and Chester; teaches at Drexel University; and is a four-time Barrymore nominee for Outstanding Choreography/Movement. Up next at People’s Light she will be directing John Glore’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.
Pete Pryor is a proud company member of PLTC and a new Associate Artistic Director. He is the director of the currently running Treasure Island and this season marks his fourth time directing this annual holiday celebration for the company. He is the co-founder and former Producing Artistic Director of 1812 Productions. He is the resident artist at the Pathway School, for whom he teaches and directs three productions a year. He is an Independence Foundation Fellowship Artist, a Lunt-Fontanne fellow and winner of three Barrymore Awards. His play Beautiful Boy will be part of the Community Matters reading series for PLTC this May. Up next at PLTC he will be playing George in Of Mice and Men and directing Bruce Graham's Mr. Hart and MR. Brown.
Videos