How new improv classes will bring social benefits to autistic students
Students with autism spend a lot of their class time practicing social interaction and communication, but one therapeutic day school is offering a way to make it fun.
Through a partnership with the Second City Training Center, students throughout the region can sign up for Improv for Autism classes launching May 19 at Giant Steps in Lisle.
The classes are open to anyone age 11 to 18 with a primary diagnosis of autism, and they will focus on the principles of improv: listening, forming team relationships and responding in conversation in a way that builds on whatever was just said.
“What's really neat about Improv for Autism is it isn't all that different than any other improv class you would take here,” said Abby Wagner, vice president of Second City Training Centers and education programs. “It's just done at a slower pace.”
Two levels of classes each will meet for one 90-minute session a week for eight weeks, Saturdays, May 19 through July 7. The beginning level, called Purposeful Play, meets noon to 1:30 p.m. at Giant Steps, 2500 Cabot Drive, Lisle, and the second level, called Fostering Relationships, meets 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the same location.
Tuition is $295 per student and registration is available at the Second City website or by calling (312) 664-3959 or emailing customerservice@secondcity.com.
Second City launched Improv for Autism in 2014 in Chicago and ran a test program this year at Giant Steps with eight participants. This is the first time the classes are more widely available in the suburbs.
For students who often have challenges with their social, emotional and communication skills, improv is a great learning tool, Giant Steps Executive Director Sylvia Smith said.
“The whole concept is just uniquely natural for our kiddos,” Smith said. “There's no wrong answer. They're encouraged to self-express.”
Giant Steps staff members worked with Second City to craft scenarios used in the classes. Wagner said a prompt can be as simple as two students sitting together, pretending to be in a car, and being told to act like a mom and child.
“You're practicing human interaction,” Wagner said.
Giant Steps especially contributed to the scenes for the second-level class, which will be more practical.
“We're going to start honing that into real situations that they might have in their life so that they're practicing things with a pretty specific purpose,” Wagner said.
Maybe the scene will challenge students to pretend they're in a movie theater and show how they would react if someone spilled popcorn, a scenario Smith offered as an example.
Improv for Autism classes will take place inside a Giant Steps classroom, where parents can watch. The purpose isn't to train students to become the next star on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” but to help them build skills to react to everyday situations.
“Laughter is there, but that's not the goal,” Smith said. “The goal is communication and exposure and interaction. But laughing just happens. It's the byproduct.”