August 12, 2024

Researchers seeking children ages 10-16 with autism, intellectual disability for theater intervention study

The intervention is free for participants and would include evaluations before and after the program.

The SENSE Theatre Spring 2021 production, “The Adult School,” centers around a group of students who do not see the benefits of growing up until they meet a teacher who gives them the inspiration to do so. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are seeking children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 16 years who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) to participate in a research study examining the effect of theater on children with ASD and ID.

This study looks at social skills of children and adolescents with ASD and ID before and after a theater intervention program. The intervention is free for participants and would include evaluations before and after the program, including psychological testing and parent questionnaires, a social interaction evaluation, and a research electroencephalogram (EEG). The theater intervention would include a series of two-hour rehearsals on Saturdays over the course of six weeks, and the program would end in a final dress rehearsal and two performances for family and friends.

For more information on the study, call (615) 513-9562, email senselab@vumc.org, or visit https://senselab.vkcsites.org/.