Within improvisational theater, “yes, and” is the basic rule: you accept what is, and you build on it. For parents and caregivers of an autistic child, that sometimes feels easier said than done. In this column, Saskia shares moments from practice – small and large – about letting go, moving with it, and what then suddenly turns out to be possible.
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Continue reading >>: Who’s really the one with limitations here? On mirrors, frames, and being your authentic selfTheater holds up a mirror to you. It invites you to take a fresh look at yourself, the world, and all the unwritten social norms that we’re far too quick to accept as “normal.” Especially when you’re watching a performance that completely turns your expectations upside down and forces you…
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Continue reading >>: Looking Toward the Future: How Flexibility Expands Your Child’s World.It’s 2005. I’m walking to the Uk de Zon daycare center on Achtergracht in Amsterdam, about a ten-minute walk from our home on Utrechtsedwarsstraat. I’ve walked this route countless times, crossing diagonally across Frederiksplein, past the familiar facades of the city. This is the place where our oldest son played…
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Continue reading >>: Raising a child with autism is like mountain climbing: remember to enjoy the view.Years ago, when I learned that my youngest son Aidan has autism, I – like so many of my generation – immediately thought of Rain Man, the famous Hollywood classic from the 1980s in which Dustin Hoffman plays an autistic man who, although genius at mental arithmetic, is at the…