Rehearsing for Life: Celebrating Neurodiversity through Improv in Schools

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Despite widespread anti-bullying campaigns and zero-tolerance school policies, bullying remains a serious public health issue and has devastating consequences for students’ emotional and physiological well-being. Young people with autism are two to three times as likely as their neurotypical peers to be bullied, often resulting in a range of negative mental health outcomes and an inability to actualize their full potential. There is strong evidence that we can fight stigma and negative attitudes toward people with disabilities by educating youth about neurodiversity, or the understanding that there is variation in how brains work and that these differences are important and should be celebrated. Teaching young people about neurodiversity also teaches them to value their unique contributions and diversities and expands their willingness to appreciate the varied interests, skills, and perspectives of those around them–a skill of growing importance in our increasingly polarized society.

The Rehearsing for Life program has three components: 1. Interactive improv workshops for students in mainstream and special education classrooms, 2. Teacher trainings on creating inclusive opportunities for arts-based collaboration in the classroom, and 3. A production of an original musical which challenges limiting beliefs about disability and models what it means to embrace a “yes and” attitude to life.
In the student workshops, neurodivergent young adults who have gone through leadership training with TMP will facilitate workshops that use improv games, theater, and role play to educate students about neurodiversity and reinforce each individual’s sense of identity. Teachers will attend the widely acclaimed “Seven Keys to Unlock Autism” training developed by TMP founder and international thought-leader Elaine Hall, which will give concrete strategies to use arts-based interventions to support a culture of belonging in the classroom. Teachers and students will also attend a production of TMP’s original musical comedy, Rehearsing for Life, which was inspired by the life stories of its neurodiverse cast and includes a live improv set based on audience suggestions. This show, which champions the use of improv in everyday life, shatters stereotypical representations of autism, as it was developed by and stars individuals who are often thought as rigid thinkers but who have used the arts to reclaim their narratives.

TMP envisions a world where everyone feels like they belong. A recent study has found that 1 in 4 young people feel like they don’t belong in their school. A greater sense of belonging has been linked to increased student motivation, better staff well-being and motivation, increased attendance, improved academic achievement, and an increased belief in both students and staff that they can make a difference. Celebrating neurodiversity is not limited to focusing solely on individuals with a pronounced disability. It is about creating a culture in which people are willing to accept differences between themselves and others. It is about helping people to understand that what one person needs to succeed may be different from what another person needs. TMP hopes to be able to take Rehearsing for Life into more schools and to establish weekly programming, particularly in under-resourced areas where bullying of neurodivergent individuals has been reported at especially high rates.

Students and staff will be surveyed at the conclusion of the program about their experience of the workshop and of the original musical. 79% of respondents who have attended a production of the musical “strongly agreed” or “agreed” to the statement, “This production helped me better understand and/or appreciate neurodiversity. 88% of respondents have “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that “This production challenges limiting perceptions about neurodiversity/disability.” Should TMP have the opportunity to begin ongoing programs with these schools, we will employ clinical observation, surveys/interviews, and written assessments to assess a number of psychosocial outcomes, including students’ self-confidence, ability to build meaningful friendships with individuals with and without disabilities, reports of anxiety and depression, and feelings of loneliness and marginalization. Participants in TMP’s weekly classes already undergo semi-annual evaluations to monitor these outcomes.