Breanna Maddison

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Parents cheer autism-friendly 'Mary Poppins'

In this April 29, 2012 photo released by the Theatre Development Fund, kids attend at an autism-friendly performance of the musical "Mary Poppins, in New York. About 40 autism specialists _ many master's students at Hunter College, special education experts or social workers _ roamed the theater, providing comfort and help to families. (AP Photo/Theatre Development Fund, Anita & Steve Shevett)

In this April 29, 2012 photo released by the Theatre Development Fund, Morgan Brodwin, 10, poses with theater volunteers at an autism-friendly performance of the musical "Mary Poppins, in New York. About 40 autism specialists _ many master's students at Hunter College, special education experts or social workers _ roamed the theater, providing comfort and help to families.(AP Photo/Theatre Development Fund, Anita & Steve Shevett)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The afternoon performance of "Mary Poppins" was marked by loud yips, shouts and moans ? and that was just fine.

It was the second autism-friendly performance of a Broadway show, and for many families with a child who suffers from the disorder, it turned out to be a practically perfect day.

"It is an amazing opportunity to bring our families here and enjoy the show, not be stressed, and relax and know that everyone in the theater is in our situation," said Paige Bravin, sitting with her 11-year-old daughter, Alexa, in the second row of the New Amsterdam Theatre.

The Theatre Development Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on providing access to live theater, bought all 1,797 seats for Sunday's matinee and offered reduced price tickets to families with an autistic member. They sold out in two days.

It was the second experiment following the autism-friendly showing of "The Lion King" in October. The Theatre Development Fund plans a third such show at "The Lion King" on Sept. 30. Tickets for that go on sale this summer on the fund's site.

At Sunday's matinees, about 40 autism specialists ? many of them master's students at Hunter College, special education experts or social workers ? roamed the theater, providing comfort and help to families. They wore black Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious T-shirts and held flashlights.

"They love participating and being part of this day and to see the magic," said Dr. Jamie Bleiweiss, a professor of early childhood special education at Hunter College and co-founder of the consultant and support group Autism Friendly Spaces. "It's such a rewarding way to give back and to share. This experience is pretty powerful."

To prepare the children, character guides and song lists had been made available ahead of the show so there were few surprises. Calming corners and activity areas were created in the cavernous New Amsterdam Theatre, where overwhelmed children could sit in beanbag chairs and watch a live stream of the show.

There were coloring books, puzzles, games and handy toys for fidgety patrons. Signalers on either side of the stage raised green glow sticks to warn theatergoers of upcoming loud noises or to signal that clapping was ahead.

"We're learning each time," said Victoria Bailey, TDF's executive director, who also credited Disney Theatrical Productions for allowing two of their shows to participate. "It's really clear that the demand is there."

To accommodate the special audience, a few changes were made to "Mary Poppins," including removing all strobe lights, lowering the tap sounds of "Step in Time," softening some transitions and lowering some pitches. The cast and musicians had rehearsed for several hours the day before to ensure that events at No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane were smooth.

"The power of the story remains," said David Caddick, the music supervisor. "We changed some elements to avoid a sensory overload but it doesn't in any way diminish it for the other family members."

Anthony Lyn, the show's associate director, said his team was happy to welcome a whole new audience. "I know everyone in the cast and in the building was incredibly delighted about doing today's performance," he said.

Autism disorders affect 1 in 88 U.S. children, according to U.S. government estimates. Children with the diagnosis are often sensitive to loud noises and harsh lights, and find it hard to sit still or remain quiet. Autism spectrum disorders include both severe and relatively mild symptoms.

The audience at the matinee illustrated the vast range of disabilities, from those with difficulty walking to those who just seemed shy. Many wore headphones to drown out loud sounds. Some grew tired sitting and preferred to wander the aisles or go to the unisex bathrooms. As the show progressed, some children who had been moaning or screeching became calmer. Some happily bopped along to the music.

"You don't have to worry. You're in the same position as everybody else is. You don't have to be embarrassed. It's OK that your kid is screaming, crying or carrying on," said Lisa Brodwin, whose 10-year-old daughter, Morgan, charmed the volunteers with her easy, outgoing nature.

"She loves music, she loves dancing and I wanted to take her and my other son, who's not autistic, as a family. So the four of us can do something together," said Brodwin, who is from Long Island. "I think this is so monumental. I think this is so beneficial."

The Theatre Development Fund, which also operates the TKTS booths, hopes to make such autism-friendly performances a regular event on Broadway and is happy to share what it's learned with other theater communities. It's already had several inquiries from across the nation.

"I think we're developing more awareness in the Broadway community and it's clear from surveys that we did after the first one that there's an appetite for 'Spider-Man,' there's an appetite for 'Wicked,' there's an appetite for Radio City," Bailey said. "Over time, I hope we would be able to do that."

___

Online:

Theatre Development Fund: http://tdf.org

Autism Friendly Spaces: http://autismfriendlyspaces.com

___

Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Associated Press

san francisco 49ers giants vs 49ers sf 49ers joe paterno died 49ers game ravens ray lewis

View From The Winepress: We Home Schooled . . . Part One

We home schooled.?

For ten total years times two children two years apart less?five years spent in a failed public school experiment with a side order of kindergarten.

And if you think that was hard to follow, you should have seen me teach my kids algebra.? Scary.

I felt like the most unqualified home educator on the planet.? When I first heard about the radical idea of home schooling, I said in a panic, ?I can?t do that!? I?m not trained.? The government has convinced me that they alone know what's best for?my kids!?

Silly rabbit.? Tricks aren?t for kids.

So, kicking and screaming, I entered the home school arena with my eldest, the???? ???? five-year-old.? Those poor firstborns?we?re always testing our?ideas on them.? Let?s just say, it was a less than wonderful year.? I got the wrong curriculum for the right kid who had an atypical learning style and wasn?t ready to ?crack the reading code? even though he was the age the government says every kid should be when they learn to read and he hated paperwork even though the curriculum said if I gave him enough of it every day eventually I would win him over to the joys of sitting at a desk with a pencil and he?d forget about the great outdoors and how much fun it is to run and jump and climb.

That?s a run-on sentence and completely unacceptable unless you write a blog?in which case you get to make the rules.? This is my blog.? These are my rules.? I like??? run-on sentences when they make a point and here?s my point:? incessant paperwork isn?t for five-year-olds and reading on their own might not be either. Yet.

So we ditched the home school foray, convinced that we were not among the amazing few who could successfully pull it off.? And . . . the grandparents rejoiced, breathing a sigh of relief that we had, at last, come to our senses before ruining their grandchildren.

We maintained our senses for the next five years, fully supporting public education in our local neighborhood, serving as classroom helpers, field trip supervisors, class party chairpersons, and even PTO president. We were so well known on the campus even the janitors thought we lived there.

Ironically, though we put our son into school in the first grade without a mastery of phonics, we still were the ones who taught him to read. After enrolling him, I breathed a sigh of relief that somebody else would take over his education. Boy, was I surprised when his reading assignments came home with him every night and we still had to sit next to him on the sofa and force him to see Jack run. ?In retrospect, what was needed was for us to ?let Lee run?. ?I?m amazed to this day, twenty-five years later, that he turned out to be a lover of books and knowledge after a tumultuous ride on that reading railroad.

Let me be clear?our kids had some wonderful teachers in their public school years.? They also had a couple of bad ones.? And sometimes the bad ones make a bigger impact than the good ones.? That?s the risk.? And the heartbreak. In second grade, I confronted my son?s teacher about her terrifying fits of anger unleashed in class, thinking that was better than going over her head to the principal.? I should have just gone over her head.? The next year we pulled him out of a gifted program after only nine weeks due to similar issues. Third graders shouldn?t have stomach aches every day just because they answer roll call.

Our daughter started public school in kindergarten, untainted by the failures of a fledgling home school mother, the year after we enrolled our son.? Unlike her brother, she learned to write her full name in class. (I?d only taught our son to write his first name when he was her age?hey, I knew who he was.) She loved school.? She made friends, Christmas ornaments, and good grades.? For the first two years, school was too much fun to miss.? But the first day of second grade, she came home with a dour face and prophesied to her dad and me, ?This isn?t going to be a fun year.?? She still has good intuition.? And she was right?it wasn?t fun that year.? (Reference the ?bad teacher? comment above.)?

So for a full year we researched better ways to take back the responsibility for our kids? education than the one we?d chosen the first time.? We picked what was left of the brains of parents still in the trenches, watched them in action, attended seminars and conventions, and prayed.? A lot.? Then we voted as a family, made a unanimous decision, and went all in, never looking back.

It took three years before we caught our stride, found our comfort zone, built some confidence and began to understand the good, the bad and the ugly of curriculum.? Three years before we found our way into already established home school co-ops with other families in our area.? Three years before we stopped thinking we were out of our minds.

But it only took one day for the collective blood pressure of our family to return to normal after five years in a system that lost track of the souls of our kids and sold them out to mass production.?

Which is not to say that we didn?t have blood pressure spikes in the home school environment.? I once heard a speaker, i.e. home educator encourager, tell me and a bunch of other novices that teaching your kids at home?is a whole new kind of pressure which squeezes out character imperfections so they can be dealt with ? and your kids won?t be perfect either.?

Writing on the wall, baby.

eric johnson big east tournament ashley olsen new apple tv sun flare love hewitt new ipad

Monday, April 30, 2012

Valentina: Bright, Stylish Shoes for Girls

Brighten up your daughter's shoe wardrobe with Valentina shoes.

bear grylls us news law school rankings gael glen rice jr bars lindzi cox redskins

Sunday, April 29, 2012

How Great Entrepreneurs Create Their Own Luck

This is the story of how a young British fine artist accidentally became a materials scientist, founding a high-growth company that created a whole new product category. It?s also a parable for how great entrepreneurs systematically create their own luck. Jane ni Dhulchaointigh is the founder and CEO of Sugru, a London-based startup that makes an amazing moldable adhesive for repairing any physical object. It?s a cross between silly putty and duct tape, a space age rubber that can be molded into any desired shape by hand, and that sticks to a vast array of surfaces. With customers in over 100 countries, and all seven continents, Sugru has taken the world by storm.

raffi torres michael mcdonald jon jones vs rashad evans earth day 2012 jon jones rashad evans ufc jones vs evans watergate