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(gentle piano music)

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- Follow the rhythm.

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- When you have a
disability, the opportunities

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for activities diminishes significantly.

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(bright music)

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(group singing)
(bright music)

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(teacher speaks indistinctly)

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(group clapping)

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I am Stefanie Rivers,

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and I am the mother of three young men

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who are in Shakespeare and Autism.

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- Then I'm gonna throw
it to Angelina like...

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The Shakespeare and Autism
Project at Ohio State

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is an ongoing civic engagement
project where we use

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Shakespeare theater games

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to engage autistic individuals
in self-expression,

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and social skills, and
communicative skills.

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(Kevin mimics whooshing sound)

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We are not occupational therapists,

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we're not social workers,
we're not psychologists,

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we're actors, and we
create this atmosphere

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of play-based joy

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and also have the
opportunity to be celebrated

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for who they are as individuals

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and their own unique view of the world.

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(group singing)

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- My favorite game

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is Love At First Sight.
(mimics eyeballs reverberating)

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Oh, you wonder. (gasps)

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I've been tearing myself up,

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I'd be like, man, I wish
I could do it again.

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So, yeah, it's been fun.

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- I love seeing people see the personality

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that I see every day,

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because the world is not necessarily

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made for special needs people.

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That environment just lets
them shine and be wonderful,

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and the people are interested.

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(group chattering)

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- People say, "It's so great
what you're doing for them."

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But the reality is, man,
it's a two-way street.

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You wanna learn about authenticity,

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spend an hour and a half with a group

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of 14 autistic individuals.

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You'll get an abject lesson

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in what it means to be authentic.

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(lively music)

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- [Teacher] The next game
we're going to play...

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(lively music)

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- [Stefanie] Just being honest,

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Ohio State is probably one of the few

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that has these kind of
programs for young people.

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Most of us have probably not
taken the Shakespeare class,

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but I can say my sons
have done Shakespeare,

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so I've been very impressed with it.

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(bright music fades)