Kent academics extend innovative Autism project to include entire family
Following pioneering research using drama with autistic children, University of Kent experts are now expanding their work to include the whole family.
The work by the School of Arts Imagining Autism project is showing siblings how to reach out to the autistic child through play. Using a pop-up room known as a ‘pod’, the team has created a dynamic, interactive environment that has had parents ask ‘what have you done that makes my child speak?’
Dr Melissa Trimingham, Senior Lecturer in Drama at the School of Arts, has been working on the research project since 2011. The work is now at the cutting edge of how autism is handled.
The project uses drama, humour and puppetry to reach out to autistic children in a very immersive environment.
Siblings of autistic children often miss out on shared play and the project is aiming to help the whole family though teaching them important skills they can use at home. The children and their siblings are given new play skills and the parents are introduced to humorous ways to deal with challenging behaviour.
The success of the Imaging Autism pilot study working in special schools resulted in its being extended to families.
Picture – Winter scene in the Imagining Autism pod (c) University of Kent.
