Full Description
This book teaches drama and immersive theatre-based activities for parents and professionals working with children and young people on the autism spectrum. The exercises follow the author's simple, person-centred '3C pathway' of connecting, calming and communicating, and enable parents to gain an understanding of the challenges an autistic child may face by 'walking in their shoes', while empowering children to become more self-aware and express themselves in healthy ways.
The activities included in the book are tried-and-tested, accessible and easy to implement, such as breathing exercises, mirroring movements, and treasure hunts. Using these activities, parents and professionals can gain insight into the sensory and social challenges experienced by those on the spectrum and can work to build a positive and trusting relationship, offering a secure base for children's emotional development.
Contents
Introduction
1. Act for Autism: who, what and why?
2. Creating the Practice: Clear Time and the 3C Pathway
3. Connecting through drama
Autism and the Senses
4. Why autism is hard to understand
5. Understanding autism as a sensory difference and the link to anxiety
6. What autistic individuals say about their sensory experience
7. The senses and how they impact on a child's experience
Connecting through Clear Time and the 3C Pathway
8. What is Clear Time?
9. The first C: Connecting
10. The second C: Calming
11. The third C: Communicating
12. Why is heartbeat so important for the 3C Pathway?
13. The role of drama exercises in our work
14. 3C Pathway exercises
Conclusion
References
