Theatre of the Oppressed and Autism

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I believe that the techniques used in Theatre of the Oppressed are as close to therapy as we're able to get for people with autism. I'm hoping to be volunteering in this area soon and am wondering about if anyone else has any opinions or relevant experience.

A brief google search has given me the impression that Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of political activism.....how do you envision it as therapy? What would it help with?

I think that many therapies might be useful to a person with autism, depending on the person and their particular issues....e.g. occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech/language therapy, various types of therapy aimed at improving emotional and psychological well-being.

Yes...it can be used for political activism; but it can also be used for improving communication skills, confidence, posture and gait, verbal and non-verbal language skills. In particular I think it has the potential to be very useful for working out appropriate social responses, covering areas such as private and public space, social hierarchies, disclosure and sharing of personal details, emotional responses, and working out motivation and the narrative of a relationship or social interaction.

Ah, okay. I can definitely see that. I agree with you that it's got a lot of potential -- theater would be great for a lot of people because it involves more natural practice with various social things without the potential fallout of real-life practice, and theater that is participatory and workshop-like could add a lot of opportunity for deeper learning/thinking about complex social things.

I still disagree that it is as close to therapy for autism as it's possible to get, though. Skills can be learned and improved in a variety of ways, and everybody is different in terms of what works best for them.

Theatre of the Oppressed isn't theatre in the sense of drama though; it's more of a philosophy and way of life, different ways of thinking, understanding and behaving.

Okay.....so you're saying that the philosophy/paradigms involved could also play a therapeutic role or be otherwise beneficial? And/or that they could play a role in improving skills/learning?