Children with autism will have the opportunity to perform on stage alongside actors that have the same disabilities as themselves because of the efforts of a Ball State program.
Prism Project, one of four winners of the first ever immersive learning project awards, is a program that allows children between the ages of 6 and 14 with special needs to express themselves using theatre and music. The show takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Pruis Hall.
“People who show up get to see kids doing things no one ever expected them to be able to do — things they never expected themselves to do,” said Michael Daehn, director of Prism.
This is the fifth year for a project created when Ryan Hourigan, co-founder of Prism and father of children with autism, came to Daehn looking to create a program that his children and other children with disabilities could enjoy.
“To be honest, I would get flyers about little league or soccer and all the things that my kids can’t do,” Hourigan said. “I wanted to provide something my kids could do along with their friends.”
Daehn said the biggest thing about working with the Prism children is the unpredictably of it all.
He told the story of one boy, who after seeing several children tell a joke in one part of the program, decided he was going to tell a joke too. He walked up to the microphone, Daehn said, and although he was not one of the most vocal children, did his best to tell a joke like his friends.
“With actors that don’t have any special challenges I know what I’m going to see on opening night — with the Prism kids, I’m going to see something excited, I know that. I’m just not always sure what though,” Daehn said.
More than 100 Ball State students take part in the event, between working with the children, producing the events and developing ideas. Most are theatre program students, some of which after working with Prism have decided to incorporate teaching children with special needs into their future, Daehn said.
Hourigan said some of the biggest challenges for Ball State students involved is overcoming timidness.
“A lot of the [students] don’t have experience working with a child with special needs at all,” he said. “They have to learn the child’s skill set and not be afraid to help the kids out.”
Daehn said between half and two-thirds of the children return each year, allowing those involved to watch the kids grow up both in age and ability.
“When they first came in many were socially insecure,” he said. “They have been able to have really tight friendships with the rest of the kids at prism — the growth has been exponential and really easy to watch.”
