{"id":1410,"date":"2026-08-30T22:53:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/?p=1410"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:53:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:53:57","slug":"cvc2026-707","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/cvc2026-707\/","title":{"rendered":"CVC2026-707 \u2013 Including children\u2019s voices in a neurodiversity\u2011affirming theatre program"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cvc-hero alignfull\">\n  <span class=\"cvc-chip\">Presentation \u2013 CVC2026-707<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Including children\u2019s voices in a neurodiversity\u2011affirming theatre program<\/h1>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"cvc-authors\">\n<p><strong>Kelsey Philpott-Robinson, <\/strong>OTARC, La Trobe University, Australia<\/p>\n<p><strong>Melissa Gilbert, <\/strong>OTARC, La Trobe University, Australia<\/p>\n<p><strong>Patrick Dwyer, <\/strong>OTARC, La Trobe University, Australia<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jenny Heriot, <\/strong>Full Spectrum Theatre, Australia<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drew Heriot, <\/strong>Full Spectrum Theatre, Australia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"CVC2026-707 Including children\u2019s voices in a neurodiversity\u2011affirming theatre program\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VoSb-v6krOQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p><strong>Background: <\/strong>Social connection is important, yet traditional social skills programs are criticised for encouraging autistic young people to mask their natural ways of interacting. This has led to growing interest in neurodiversity affirming approaches that support connection and self-expression. Theatre programs may offer one such approach, though evidence remains limited. A community theatre program centres on a supportive troupe environment where ideas are welcomed, mistakes are celebrated, and participants collaboratively create and perform original theatre focused on enjoyment and connection.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aim: <\/strong>This study examined autistic young people\u2019s goals and experiences within a community theatre program compared to those of their parents.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Method\/approach:<\/strong> Thirteen autistic young people and their parents completed questionnaires before and after program participation. Both groups rated the importance of a range of potential goals (e.g., having fun, building confidence, feeling comfortable talking with others) and provided ratings of young people\u2019s performance related to these goals. Ethics approval was granted by La Trobe University.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results\/findings: <\/strong>Parents generally placed greater importance on goals related to confidence, self-esteem, making friends, and interpersonal skills, whereas young people prioritised enjoyment, self-expression, and social comfort. Agreement between priorities was low. Despite these differences, both groups reported improvements in young people\u2019s comfort initiating conversations with unfamiliar people following participation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>The findings underscore the importance of centring autistic young people\u2019s voices in the design and evaluation of community programs and suggest that neurodiversity affirming theatre may support well-being and social participation in authentic and meaningful ways.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for children and families: <\/strong>You and your child may experience greater benefits when your child\u2019s interests, goals, and feedback are listened to. Programs that centre young people\u2019s voices are more likely to feel enjoyable, meaningful, and supportive of well-being.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for practitioners:<\/strong> You should actively consider autistic young people\u2019s goals and feedback when designing and evaluating programs, as centring their voices promotes autonomy, well-being, and authentic participation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keywords<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> neurodiversity\u2011affirming practice, disability inclusion, autistic children and young people, community theatre, inclusive community programs<\/p>\n<p><strong>This presentation relates to the following <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\"><strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"cvc-sdgs\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal3\">SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kelsey Philpott-Robinson, OTARC, La Trobe University, Australia; Melissa Gilbert, OTARC, La Trobe University, Australia; Patrick Dwyer, OTARC, La Trobe University, Australia; Jenny Heriot, Full Spectrum Theatre, Australia; Drew Heriot, Full Spectrum Theatre, Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,49,52,1],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-1410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-health-and-disability","category-childrens-inclusion","category-childrens-rights-voices-and-perspectives","category-presentations","tag-sdg-03"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1479,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1410\/revisions\/1479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}