The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Ivy Giserman-Kiss; Michelle Gorenstein; Elyana Feldman; Mikaela Rowe; Hannah Grosman; Jordana Weissman; Audrey Rouhandeh; Emma Wilkinson; Kristin Meyering; Allison Durkin; Emily Isenstein; Alexander Kolevzon; Joseph D. Buxbaum; Paige M. Siper

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7

The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Ivy Giserman-Kiss, Michelle Gorenstein, Elyana Feldman, Mikaela Rowe, Hannah Grosman, Jordana Weissman, Audrey Rouhandeh, Emma Wilkinson, Kristin Meyering, Allison Durkin, Emily Isenstein, Alexander Kolevzon, Joseph D. Buxbaum, Paige M. Siper

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Despite growing public awareness of ASD, many caregivers of children with ASD struggle to find opportunities for participation in community activities with appropriate accommodations. The current study evaluated the experiences of individuals with ASD who attended immersive theater performances specifically designed for individuals with ASD. Parents and teachers of 256 children and adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their pre-show expectations and post-show satisfaction with the performance. Analyses revealed that, on average, parents’ and teachers’ levels of satisfaction significantly outweighed their pre-show expectations. Based on researcher observations, audience feedback, and past research, a list of best practices for successful theater programming for individuals with ASD was compiled with the goal of widespread dissemination to increase accessibility of theater performances for neurodiverse audiences.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1073-1080
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume	50
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7
State	Published - 1 Mar 2020

Keywords

ASD
Accessibility
Autism spectrum disorder
Immersive theater
Theater
Theatre

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Giserman-Kiss, I., Gorenstein, M., Feldman, E., Rowe, M., Grosman, H., Weissman, J., Rouhandeh, A., Wilkinson, E., Meyering, K., Durkin, A., Isenstein, E., Kolevzon, A., Buxbaum, J. D., & Siper, P. M. (2020). The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(3), 1073-1080. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7

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title = "The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder",

abstract = "Despite growing public awareness of ASD, many caregivers of children with ASD struggle to find opportunities for participation in community activities with appropriate accommodations. The current study evaluated the experiences of individuals with ASD who attended immersive theater performances specifically designed for individuals with ASD. Parents and teachers of 256 children and adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their pre-show expectations and post-show satisfaction with the performance. Analyses revealed that, on average, parents{\textquoteright} and teachers{\textquoteright} levels of satisfaction significantly outweighed their pre-show expectations. Based on researcher observations, audience feedback, and past research, a list of best practices for successful theater programming for individuals with ASD was compiled with the goal of widespread dissemination to increase accessibility of theater performances for neurodiverse audiences.",

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author = "Ivy Giserman-Kiss and Michelle Gorenstein and Elyana Feldman and Mikaela Rowe and Hannah Grosman and Jordana Weissman and Audrey Rouhandeh and Emma Wilkinson and Kristin Meyering and Allison Durkin and Emily Isenstein and Alexander Kolevzon and Buxbaum, \{Joseph D.\} and Siper, \{Paige M.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.",

year = "2020",

month = mar,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7",

language = "English",

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Giserman-Kiss, I, Gorenstein, M, Feldman, E, Rowe, M, Grosman, H, Weissman, J, Rouhandeh, A, Wilkinson, E, Meyering, K, Durkin, A, Isenstein, E, Kolevzon, A , Buxbaum, JD & Siper, PM 2020, 'The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder', Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 1073-1080. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7

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AU - Giserman-Kiss, Ivy

AU - Gorenstein, Michelle

AU - Feldman, Elyana

AU - Rowe, Mikaela

AU - Grosman, Hannah

AU - Weissman, Jordana

AU - Rouhandeh, Audrey

AU - Wilkinson, Emma

AU - Meyering, Kristin

AU - Durkin, Allison

AU - Isenstein, Emily

AU - Kolevzon, Alexander

AU - Buxbaum, Joseph D.

AU - Siper, Paige M.

PY - 2020/3/1

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N2 - Despite growing public awareness of ASD, many caregivers of children with ASD struggle to find opportunities for participation in community activities with appropriate accommodations. The current study evaluated the experiences of individuals with ASD who attended immersive theater performances specifically designed for individuals with ASD. Parents and teachers of 256 children and adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their pre-show expectations and post-show satisfaction with the performance. Analyses revealed that, on average, parents’ and teachers’ levels of satisfaction significantly outweighed their pre-show expectations. Based on researcher observations, audience feedback, and past research, a list of best practices for successful theater programming for individuals with ASD was compiled with the goal of widespread dissemination to increase accessibility of theater performances for neurodiverse audiences.

AB - Despite growing public awareness of ASD, many caregivers of children with ASD struggle to find opportunities for participation in community activities with appropriate accommodations. The current study evaluated the experiences of individuals with ASD who attended immersive theater performances specifically designed for individuals with ASD. Parents and teachers of 256 children and adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their pre-show expectations and post-show satisfaction with the performance. Analyses revealed that, on average, parents’ and teachers’ levels of satisfaction significantly outweighed their pre-show expectations. Based on researcher observations, audience feedback, and past research, a list of best practices for successful theater programming for individuals with ASD was compiled with the goal of widespread dissemination to increase accessibility of theater performances for neurodiverse audiences.

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KW - Accessibility

KW - Autism spectrum disorder

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KW - Theater

KW - Theatre

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The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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