Improvisational theatre or “improv,” in which actors spontaneously co-create scenes and tell stories rather than follow a script, has recently become popular as an approach to address the social communication needs of adults with developmental disabilities. Including autism. Emerging research supports the benefits of improv programs for key social communication components, including perspective-taking, conversational reciprocity and topic maintenance, and interpretation of nonverbal social cues. The structured interaction cycle that provides the foundation for successful improv, the so-called “yes, and” approach, may provide the mechanism underlying these changes. Improvisers make verbal or gestural “offers” which other improvisers must be aware of, accept, and expand on.
Improv programs led by either clinicians or theatre educators may offer a feasible means to provide intervention to adults with developmental disabilities, for whom extremely limited treatment programs exist to address social communication needs. However, few improv programs for adults with developmental disabilities have been empirically evaluated—a necessary step before they can be promoted as an alternative to traditional individual or group treatment models.
The planned Project RIPPLE intervention is an adaptation of a published improv theatre curriculum by Piven and Applebaum (2012), which is turn is based on the work of improv theatre practitioner and social worker Viola Spolin (1992). The Spolin approach utilizes structured improv games, rather than freeform scene-based exercises, and emphasizes multiple forms of communication during performance, including body movements and gesture in place of verbal speech. Both of these elements make it well-suited to performers with disabilities.
Project RIPPLE is currently in development with a goal of starting recruitment later this year. For questions about the study or to be notified when recruitment begins, send us an email: iscl@ithaca.edu.