Teaching Asperger's Students Social Skills Through Acting

Winner of an iParenting Media Award!

When given the chance, young people with Asperger's can be the most charismatic actors that have ever hit the stage. To teach "the fine art of fitting in," author Amelia Davies, instructs anyone who has a sense of humour and the desire to give their kids "a healthy dose of self-esteem" how to utilise the dramatic arts to build social skills. She provides exercises, practical advice, scripts - just about anything that allows for the creation of a "wild and wacky theater games" group, which passes muster as an educational social skills class as well.

This guidebook provides the theories and activities you'll need to set up acting classes that double as social skills groups for individuals with Aspergers or high-functioning autism. Included are acting exercises and plays that teach actors how to control and use body language, nonverbal communication, tone of voice, facial expressions, and movement, which are all important social skills. Using these and many other skills onstage allows actors to develop social understanding through repetition and generalisation.

Actors can learn as a group or focus on individual challenges through their characters. Lights, camera, action!