Drama-based activities may hold the key to helping autistic children communicate, socialise and play imaginatively following a new research project beginning at the University of Kent, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Researchers will investigate how children with autism can benefit from a range of drama interventions centring on live, interactive performance using puppetry, light, sound and digital media. The study will include psychology and autism experts from the University, who will evaluate the impact of the drama interventions on 18 children during the 30-month project.
Results from the study, which has received a research grant from the AHRC, could lead to a full-scale trial and may also prompt changes in approaches to other communication disorders in children.
Principal researcher Dr Nicola Shaughnessy, of the School of Arts, said: ‘Autism affects as many as one in 100 people in the UK but there is no cure and no single effective intervention.
‘Our aim in this research will be to test the hypothesis that many aspects of autism can be ameliorated through participation in drama-based activities, specifically live, interactive performance.
'There are three main impairments in autism, each of which have a close relationship with drama: imagination, interaction and communication. We think that participating in a multi-sensory, live and immersive drama environment can create an opening into the autistic child’s world,’ she said.
Senior lecturers in Drama Dr Shaughnessy and Dr Melissa Trimingham will lead the project, together with autism expert Dr Julie Beadle-Brown, of the Tizard Centre, and cognitive psychologist David Wilkinson, of the School of Psychology at Kent.
The University team will now develop the drama interventions in three Kent special schools. The project team will make use of a range of measures to evaluate the impact of the performance activities on three groups of six primary school children, all with a diagnosis of autism.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Jake Gilmore – + 44 (0) 1793 41 6021, j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Editors Notes:
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes hundreds of research awards ranging from individual fellowships to major collaborative projects as well as over 1,100 studentship awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.