Vanderbilt University published the success of their theatre program for children with autism.  The newly released study assessed the effectiveness of a two-week theatre camp for children with autism and found significant improvements in the children.  Areas of improvement include social perception, social cognition, home living skills and positive changes in the kid's physiological stress.  Significant differences were found in face processing, social awareness, and social cognition as well as the duration of interaction with familiar peers.

“The findings show that treatment can be delivered in an unconventional setting, and children with autism can learn from unconventional ‘interventionists’ – their typically developing peer,” said lead author Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychiatry.

The camp for kids aged 8 to 17 joins children with autism with typically developing peers who have been trained to model social interaction and communication for their autistic counterparts.  The program is called SENSE (the Social Emotional Neuroscience & Endocrinology)

 "Our findings show that the SENSE Theatre program contributes to improvement in core social deficits when engaging with peers both on and off the stage,” Corbett said. “This research also shows it’s never too late to make a significant difference in the lives of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder, as [this program] targets children who are much older than kids who are participating in early intervention, yet we are still seeing significant gains in the core deficits of autism, and in a rather brief intervention.”

For additional information, visit Vanderbilt University.

Photo credit: Vanderbilt University/Steve Green