ABSTRACT
It is with a bit of surprise, but with immense pleasure, that I find myself writing the epilogue to a book about Shakespeare and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Up until three years ago, I had no idea I would be doing research in a theatre-based intervention with children with ASD. After hearing Kelly Hunter talk about her intervention and experience with children I became intrigued. This was only reinforced when I had the opportunity to observe Kelly do a demonstration with a small group of children with ASD. Although we use different words to describe the elements of the Hunter Heartbeat Method, I immediately saw many parallels between it and standardized social skills training programs I had done over the years. Woven into Kelly’s intervention one finds transition activities, repetition, structure, predictability, didactic elements, modeling, role-playing, and retroactive feedback. All in a playful environment that provides multiple and varied opportunities to learn and practice skills that are not always easy to learn for children with autism spectrum disorder.
