(gentle piano music)
- Follow the rhythm.
- When you have a disability, the opportunities
for activities diminishes significantly.
(bright music)
(group singing) (bright music)
(teacher speaks indistinctly)
(group clapping)
I am Stefanie Rivers,
and I am the mother of three young men
who are in Shakespeare and Autism.
- Then I'm gonna throw it to Angelina like...
The Shakespeare and Autism Project at Ohio State
is an ongoing civic engagement project where we use
Shakespeare theater games
to engage autistic individuals in self-expression,
and social skills, and communicative skills.
(Kevin mimics whooshing sound)
We are not occupational therapists,
we're not social workers, we're not psychologists,
we're actors, and we create this atmosphere
of play-based joy
and also have the opportunity to be celebrated
for who they are as individuals
and their own unique view of the world.
(group singing)
- My favorite game
is Love At First Sight. (mimics eyeballs reverberating)
Oh, you wonder. (gasps)
I've been tearing myself up,
I'd be like, man, I wish I could do it again.
So, yeah, it's been fun.
- I love seeing people see the personality
that I see every day,
because the world is not necessarily
made for special needs people.
That environment just lets them shine and be wonderful,
and the people are interested.
(group chattering)
- People say, "It's so great what you're doing for them."
But the reality is, man, it's a two-way street.
You wanna learn about authenticity,
spend an hour and a half with a group
of 14 autistic individuals.
You'll get an abject lesson
in what it means to be authentic.
(lively music)
- [Teacher] The next game we're going to play...
(lively music)
- [Stefanie] Just being honest,
Ohio State is probably one of the few
that has these kind of programs for young people.
Most of us have probably not taken the Shakespeare class,
but I can say my sons have done Shakespeare,
so I've been very impressed with it.
(bright music fades)