When three members of The Kids on the Block performed their puppet show on autism at Carpenter Elementary School in Park Ridge, it was the first time their audience included autistic children.
More than 25 families with autistic kids came out to the recent performance by HAVE Dreams, a not-for-profit organization based in Park Ridge that serves children with autism and their families.
“We wanted families to see the performance and to see the message was accurate and supportive,” said Kris Johnsen, program director at HAVE (Helping Autistic Voices Emerge) Dreams.
The Kids on the Block is a Columbia, Md.-based troupe of educational puppets that teach elementary school children about disabilities and differences.
In Park Ridge, three volunteers started the local branch of the program. During the school year, they visit about 36 elementary schools in the northwest suburbs, performing for free.
They have several scripts that introduce students to specific disabilities, such as cerebral palsy and learning disabilities, and to discussions of such social issues as smoking and divorce. Two years ago, the troupe bought a puppet to introduce children to autism. The school decides which script is most relevant to its students.
The life-size puppets mirror their younger audience. For the 15-minute performance, three puppets introduce the subject of autism when one of them, Joanne, asks Eddy about his brother, David.
Joanne: “What’s wrong with him? Is he deaf or something?”
Eddy: “David can hear just fine. He acts the way he does because he has autism. David is autistic.”
Joanne: “Oh, artistic. So he can draw and paint.”
Eddy: “No, not artistic. Autistic. It’s a kind of disability. Mom says that autism is a developmental disability. It’s just a fancy way of saying that David has a hard time communicating with people.”
“The puppets are very lighthearted, and they ask embarrassing questions,” said Cindy Tauber, 43, of Park Ridge, one of the three puppeteers.
“It was a pretty accurate depiction of autism,” said Dick Malone, who came from Winnetka with his family to see the performance. The Malones’ oldest son, Ryan, 7, is autistic.
“We want children to understand that every child is different,” said his wife, Ellen. “It’s just that our child has more differences.”
Valerie Halston, 40, of Park Ridge, a puppeteer for two years, knows firsthand about autism. Her daughter, Madeline, 6, is autistic, which prompted her to join the troupe when it decided to add autism to its list of performances.
“It’s a chance for children to ask questions” of the puppets, which the show encourages, Halston said. “Autism is a spectrum disorder. There’s all these different levels, and that makes it confusing for children to understand.”
The main thrust of their message is to show that autistic children are in many ways just like any other child, except they communicate differently.
As more autistic children enter mainstream schools, HAVE Dreams officials said there’s a greater demand to educate students about autism, which unlike disabilities like cerebral palsy, is not immediately visible.
“We don’t have an autistic child, but we want our children to be aware of other children with learning disabilities,” said Anne Potts, 36, of Park Ridge, who attended the puppet show with her husband, Dan, and their three children.
