Abstract

The term "inclusion" has been increasing in its use with students of various abilities, specifically students with autism. Creating inclusion work is a growing need within the field of theatre, and a catalyst for this work can be seen through the creation of the Theatre Development Fund's sensory-friendly performances in 2011. These sensory-friendly performances are primarily marketed to families and students who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, as ASD often creates a sensory sensitivity to bright lights, sudden movements, or loud sounds. As a theatre practitioner, the guiding question of my research is exploring whether inclusion practices can be enforced beyond the stage and into educational programming for students with ASD? Can inclusion practices strengthen the intuitive skill sets of teaching artists? How can theatre artists seek inclusion training? Can the use of inclusion practices within classroom settings perpetuate consistent work for teaching artists? The goal for my research is to use the fields of education, psychology and theatre to acknowledge and inform the difficulty in defining inclusion and create a supplemental resource for theatre teaching artists to use in practice. My methodology is reflecting on my experiences as a graduate student pursuing the Autism Spectrum Disorders certificate in addition to my MFA in Theatre at the University of Central Florida.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2018

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Wood, Vandy

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre; Theatre for Young Audience

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007108

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007108

Language

English

Release Date

May 2018

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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