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Article Printed in Autism Victoria’s
“Spectrum”, 2004
Susan: Developing Social Skills through
Drama
Susan* (10 years) with Asperger's Syndrome began the Drama for
Everyday Life Program.
When she first started the program Susan did not want to talk
about herself or her feelings. At times she would flatly
refuse to participate in certain activities and couldn't be
persuaded otherwise. She would sometimes become very
frustrated and throw a tantrum.
Susan began the course to assist with self confidence,
appropriate self expression and social skills.
As she progressed it was found that Susan enjoyed storytelling
and acting out scripts. She participated in developing
scripts together. These guided her to resolve "problems", such as,
what a character should do when she meets a new girl at
school. Susan would then act out the script several times
using more appropriate vocal tones, facial expression and body
language. Eventually she would act out the scene without
scripts.
Through the role plays Susan worked quite intensively with
themes of friendship and play. Susan became more open to
exploring different possibilities in game playing. She became
more tolerant of other children when playing and learned to respond
more appropriately to lighthearted teasing and jokes. Her
mother described a situation where Susan and another child were
playing with a doll. An argument ensued. Instead of
going into a tantrum, Susan said that she would let the other child
have the doll because their friendship was more important!
Since beginning the program Susan's conversation skills have
improved. She developed awareness of other people's contribution in
conversations. She began to direct questions towards others
and actively listen for a response. A family friend who had
not seen Susan for six months was impressed with the improvement in
her conversation skills. The family friend noticed that
Susan's body language and eye contact reflected a genuine interest
in conversing with her.
A large part of the program focused on recognising and
appropriately expressing emotions in oneself and others.
Susan developed greater ability to recognise basic emotions and has
begun to learn about more specific emotions. She has begun to
communicate feelings, such as anger and frustration, more
effectively. For example: in one class Susan became very
frustrated with an exercise, so an opportunity was given to
verbalise the problem. The work was then adjusted to assist her
better.
Part of the program focused on confident self expression through
body language and voice. Susan's schoolteacher noticed that
her self confidence improved. She became more willing to
contribute in class has shown more effort to interact with
schoolmates.
Susan became much calmer and more tolerant of other
people. She developed more ability to cope with changes in
daily routine. She developed an understanding that other people
have needs too. Giving Susan the opportunity to practise
social skills in a fun, safe environment has given her the
confidence she needed in developing relationships with
others.
Drama Program Helps Student with Asperger’s
Syndrome
Teaching drama to students with Asperger’s Syndrome may seem
like a daunting task, but an innovative program has assisted many
students in developing their interpersonal skills.
Over the past six years the Drama for Everyday Life Program has
assisted many students in making friends; building self confidence
and learning how to express their feelings appropriately. Not
only do the students learn skills they normally wouldn’t develop,
but they also have fun and meet like-minded peers.
When Peter* (12 yrs, grade 6) first began the program his
parents described his behaviour as “erratic” and would easily
become “angry and upset”. Peter didn’t want to come to
classes initially, however, after persevering his parents noticed
some changes.
Mum and Dad said that before doing the program Peter would often
explode by crying and shouting when he was feeling overwhelmed.
Since doing the program Peter has learnt how to recognise his
feelings and use sentences to express how he feels. He can
control himself much better now and is able to remain calmer,
listen to Mum and Dad and then tell his point of view. Dad
described it as Peter being “switched on, rather than
off”.
Mum related that in the previous week at bedtime, Peter noticed
that he was feeling sick in the stomach and was able to communicate
to Mum, “I feel nervous about …..”, and requested a lavender bag to
help him calm down.
Peter now hangs out with same age friends at lunchtime and
emerges from school smiling with his head held high. Before
doing the program Peter rarely thought about his friends outside of
school, however now he thinks about how he could help his
friends. For example, Peter will now think about giving
things that are no longer needed to a friend; in the past the item
would have been too special.
Peter now wants to be included in conversations. Though
his conversation is still a bit “artificial”, Mum and Dad are
really proud that Peter is trying so hard to use his new
skills. When Dad arrives home in the evening Peter will now
ask him how his day was and even ask some follow up
questions. (We are still working on letting Dad have a minute
to put his bag and coat down before being questioned!)
In the past, when relatives or family friends arrived at the
door Peter used to have to be prompted to greet them, but since
doing the program Peter now gets out of his chair, walks to the
front door, greets the guests with eye contact and a smile and
initiates a conversation, much to his parents’ delight.
Peter has benefited from participating in the program in his
friendships, his relationship with parents and family
friends. He now looks forward to coming to class and putting
his social skills into practice.
* Names have been changed for privacy.
Angelica Rose B.A. (Drama) runs the Drama for Everyday Life
Program, which is specially designed for children, adolescents and
adults with autism spectrum disorders.
Voice and Movement
Copyright 2008 | 