Continuing with the theatre discussion… apologies in advance for anyone not interested! The Theater Development Fund (who run the wonderful TDF discount accessible tickets for people with disabilities, as well as the TKTS reduced priced tickets booth in Times Square) is developing the Autism Theater Initiative, “which aims to make theatergoing accessible to children and adults living on the autism spectrum.” I think this is an amazing opportunity, following in the footsteps of sign language interpreters for Deaf patrons and audio-described performances for people with visual impairments.
While many people with varying degrees of ASD do not need such services – and can enjoy live performances without modifications – it’s great that these organizations are thinking ahead about how best to incorporate people of all abilities into a theater-going audience. It’s wonderful for parents, too, since many times they are unable to go to shows due to their child’s overwhelming needs. More information about this and other TDF programs can be found at tdf.org/autism.
The New York Times ArtsBeat column wrote more about this program: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/program-hopes-to-make-broadway-friendlier-to-those-with-autism.
Natalie Abbott 