the.nd.curious.incident

08/16/2023

In our show, Christopher Boone was going to have a different costume every night to show more aspects of what autistic people can look like. Here are our 5 aesthetics. Which one is your favorite? (The last one is ours)

You can learn more about the making of our production in the documentary we made at this link - https://youtu.be/4WhAuVmztCk

ID: 5 images of Sydney (a white person with light brown curly hair) sitting on a brown park bench in front of lots of very green ferns looking off into the distance and holding a tangle fidget toy. They have chest length curly light brown hair and are wearing a black watch on their right wrist unless specified otherwise. Each image is divided into an Act I and Act II costume and each image has a different aesthetic. In order they are:
Genderbendy - grey pants, a brown belt, and black sneakers with black laces. Act I’s shirt is navy blue with math equations all over it. Act II’s is navy blue with dogs on it.
Gen-Z - straight hair, red joggers, and converse. Act I’s shirt is orange and teal and maroon and cream tie dye. Act II’s is navy blue and white striped with a gather in the front.
Cottagecore - a white puffy off the shoulder shirt with a navy blue night sky corset on top, a light blue skirt, and black boots. This is the same for both acts.
Original - blue jeans and converse. Act I’s shirt is navy blue with a teal and orange and purple astronaut sitting in a constellation shaped like a recliner and drinking a soda. Act II’s shirt has a graphic of the solar system with NASA at the center of it and a light blue zip up hoodie.
Punk - black jeans, black combat boots, two braids, eyeliner, and a light gray marbled hoodie with the sleeves rolled up. Act I has a leather jacket vest. Act II has a grey denim one.�

***an

08/12/2023

It’s here! Head to the link below to watch the ‘Crafting Curious’ documentary
Watch it here - https://youtu.be/4WhAuVmztCk

ID: The film poster. A widescreen image of four students (from left to right is Lee, Sydney, Ace (holding Toby the stuffed animal rat), and Eben) sitting on a bench in full formal wear (two of them are prom dresses, one is in a white button up with a long skirt, and the other is in brown pants with a green vest) in front of a college dorm and looking fiercely at the camera. There is a dark yellow border and the text “Crafting Curious” at the top.

***an

08/09/2023

We did promise to follow through and tell the final portion of how we created the [ill-fated] first all-neurodivergent Curious Incident. Took a bit. But we got there. With a full-length documentary, of course.

‘Crafting Curious’ - coming to you on Saturday Aug 12 at 10am EST

***an

(Track: "Talks"
Music provided by https://slip.stream
Free Download / Stream: https://get.slip.stream/as0GYv)

04/20/2023

This isn’t the post I expected to have to make, but since the world’s first all-neurodivergent cast and crew production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is no longer happening, I wanted to at least make sure the world got to see my opening night suit.

I have not been quiet about the fact that this project has been a continuous struggle this year. A lot of it stemmed from the structural ableism imbedded in academic institutions and a general lack of preparation and support. All of which forced me and my team to divert most of our creative time into putting out unnecessary fires that we were not prepared to handle. Not just in creating an all-accessible production, but in creating any production to begin with. Unfortunately the recent fire came too late in the process for us to be able to fully recover from it.

This is not the end of our story. It has proved to me and my team that there is so much systemically broken in how academic institutions as a whole function. And that we are in a unique position to not only point that out, but teach people how to fix it. I am also pleased to say that, in recent conversations with various members of my college administration, they seem very interested in learning from us and trying to make changes in the school going forward. I hope this continues to be the case.

The original point of this production was to show the world that things need to change in theater in regards to accessibility and how to do it. And not only have we done that, but we have also shown how they need to change in so many other ways as well.

Thank you to my cast and crew for your talent and dedication to this cursed little project of ours. Sure, we never got the traditional audience we’d imagined, but in a sad way this feels like a fitting ending. And, more importantly, one that will make more waves in the world than our unequivocal success ever could.

While the show may be done, we are not, our story is not, and the fight for what is right is not. We are just getting started.

In solidarity,
-S

04/19/2023

ID: Poster for the production with a thick red line diagonally across it that has white text saying “Canceled By College”

04/14/2023

Fact Friday!
Service Dogs

ID: Ten white slides with a night sky frame around it. The text is dark yellow and dark blue.
Slide 1 - Fact Friday! - Service Dogs
Slide 2 - Our dog friends say hello! - We are so lucky to have a service dog in training as an actor in our show (Coral) and another as part of our social media team (Alvar) Today they’re going to help us learn what service dogs are, what their rights are, and how you should act around them! (Photos of a yellow dog and a black and brown dog)
Slide 3 - What’s A Service Dog? - According to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a service dog is “a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability”. These tasks can include wayfinding for blind and low vision people, alerts for low blood sugar or migraines or seizures or cardiac things, mobility - like opening doors and bringing items, deep pressure therapy for panic attacks, etc. These dogs (and some miniature horses) are afforded public access, meaning they can go anywhere a human can! Most SDiTs (SDs in training) also get full public access, but that legislation varies by state.
Slide 4 - What about ESAs? - Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) and Therapy Animals are not covered by the ADA and are not afforded public access. An ESA can be any species of animal with no training requirements. They are recognized under the Fair Housing Act and Rehabilitation Act, meaning that no-pets housing is required to allow ESAs. They are certified by a letter from a physician or mental health professional based on a disability-related need. In all other situations they are considered to be pets. A Therapy Animal can also be any species of animal and are typically registered and/or certified regionally by local training organizations. They typically have some level of training and are given access to facilities where pets are prohibited at the discretion of management when invited.
Slide 5 - Regulations - There is no registry or national certification for service dogs in the US. Many companies will sell “official SD certifications”, but those are not a thing. They also cause problems for handlers who are asked for their certification to prove that their dog is a real service dog and do not have said certification. The only place that is legally allowed to ask for documentation is commercial airlines as they are not covered by the ADA. Documentation in this case is either a letter from a doctor or from the establishment that trained the service dog. Service dogs are also not required to wear a vest, ID tag, or any other formal identification to the public that they are a service animal. However, for a handler, having a service dog vested makes life so much easier because people ask less questions and are less likely to bother the dog.
Slide 6 - Fake Service Dogs - People often fake service dogs. The problem with this is when people see fake service dogs misbehave, they assume all service dogs act that way and then discriminate against actual SD teams. And, if an untrained dog attacks a real service dog (which happens more often than one might think), that can cause trauma for the SD to the point where they need to be retired early and that disabled person loses their support system. From a dog ethics perspective, if a dog is not trained for public access, being thrust into PA is very overwhelming and stressful on the animal. For the record, it is a felony to impersonate a service dog, but legalities aside, it is not the best thing to do to your dog. Please know that some legitimate service dogs do occasionally bark (they are dogs after all!) and there is no specific breed a service dog has to be - certain breeds are better for certain tasks.
Slide 7 - What do I say? - If you are running a business and you see a service dog enter it, you are legally allowed to ask two questions - 1. Is this dog a service dog? 2. What work or tasks has the dog been trained to perform? You may not ask for documentation (because it doesn’t exist), require the dog to perform a task, or ask about the person’s disability. Many service workers are afraid to ask these questions for fear of violating the ADA or being written up, but you have every right to stand your ground on this. Please be a good disability ally and ask these questions and call out people impersonating service dogs!
Slide 8 - Can I Remove A Dog? - Yes! As much of a right as a person has to their service animal, everyone else has the right to not be disturbed by it. If an animal is out of the handler’s control and the handler is not doing anything to control that or the dog is not housebroken, they can legally be asked to leave the establishment. If someone asks you to leave because they are allergic, the handler has just as much right to be there as the person with the allergies, so the establishment must provide fair accommodations for both people. A fear of dogs is not a valid reason for denying access. Another situation they can be denied admittance is if admitting service animals would fundamentally alter the nature of a service or program, including legitimate safety requirements (such as some wildlife refuges, national parks, or sections of zoos)
Slide 9 - How to Act - If you see a service dog, other than the basic access questions you should ask, ignore it. Service dogs are responsible for holding attention towards their handler to keep them safe. If you distract it or walk up super fast or call its name or stress it out in any way, you are distracting it from its job and potentially putting the handler at risk. Please note that “ignore it” does not mean “refuse to accommodate it”. If a service dog comes up to you without a handler, follow the dog. They’re trying to alert you of something. Also, unless you have been given permission by the handler, you should never take photos of the dog (that’s creepy!) or touch the dog (also in general don’t touch random dogs, that’s just a safety thing).
Slide 10 - Sources

04/13/2023

Read about us in American Theatre magazine!!

A look behind the scenes of a new, more accessible student production of the popular play centering an autistic character.

04/12/2023

Puppy fever has officially hit the cast as we all get to know Coral who will be the star of our show. 🐾

04/11/2023

Welcome to the world’s first all-neurodivergent cast and crew production of Mark Haddon and Simon Stephens’ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time !

This production, made by people like us for people like us, centers the very community this story is about in a way that shows that accessible theater is possible, plausible, and equivalent to the inaccessible default.

Join us on Friday April 21 at 7:30pm, Saturday April 22 at 7:30pm, and Sunday April 23 at 2:00pm at Mount Holyoke College’s Rooke Theatre. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve created!

Our ushers will be trained to handle access needs (including service animals) and there will be an ASL interpreter (and post-show talkback) for the Friday and Sunday shows.

Tickets are free and can be reserved at https://curious.ludus.com/index.php
Learn more about the project at https://www.disabledautisticle***an.com/curious-incident

ID: Poster for the production. It includes the information in the caption as well as a photo of the character Christopher (a white person with shoulder length curly hair wearing a black NASA tshirt, blue jeans, black converse, and a light blue zip up hoodie, is laying on their back on a chair with their arms and legs in the air as if they are an astronaut)

  Curious IncidentWelcome to the world of my thesis! Tickets Production Visual Story Follow us on instagram and tiktok or send us an email! Read about us in American Theatre! The “why”I’ve been through several iterations of professional theatre/acting education at this point in my life and ev...

04/11/2023

With only two weeks until our final performances, we are working hard on finalising performances and getting the Theater ready for visitors. 🎭

04/07/2023

Fact Friday!
Accessible Education Pt. 2 (classrooms)

ID: Ten white slides with a night sky frame around it. The text is dark yellow and dark blue.
Slide 1 - Fact Friday! - Accessible Education Pt. 2 (classrooms)
Slide 2 - Intro - Accessible and inclusive education is not just saying “these people are welcome here!” - it’s integrating that into every piece of how a place is run. This fact friday is a part 2 - last week we talked about why accessibility matters, common misconceptions about accessibility, and some tips on how to get started with accessible classrooms (particularly in the arts). We recommend reading that one first. Today we will cover other basics of accessible classrooms. It’s a brief overview so please check out the sources slide at the end (or Sydney Zarlengo’s YouTube channel) for more in-depth resources! Also - reminder that if a minority student says something is discriminatory and you don’t think that it is, rather than get defensive, that’s a good time to realize that maybe you have a blind spot to work on. That student felt safe enough to call something out - it is now your responsibility to listen to them, believe them, and do something about it.
Slide 3 - Crip Time/Time Blindness - Crip Time - “A concept arising from disabled experience that addresses the ways that disabled/chronically ill and neurodivergent people experience time (and space) differently than able-bodyminded folk” (UMN - CDSC) Disabled people have a different experience of time, in the sense of literal time (time blindness is a really common trait of any form of neurodiversity) and in the sense of longevity of time - seeming to physically age quickly yet be infantilized, time spent processing loss, the disconnected time between body and mind, processing speed, and so much more. In a school setting, it should not be just “oh this student has extra time on tests and assignments” - it needs to include built in time everywhere for processing speeds, built in time for handling needs. Disabled people often struggle to be on time, absorb info at a particular speed, and perform in a particular time frame. And this is rarely accounted for in the classroom.
Slide 4 - Presence & Participation - Many studies have shown that the higher someone’s physical presence at school, the higher their grades are. It’s also assumed to be the one thing students have control over, that if a student isn’t present/participating typically they do not care, and it is therefore heavily rewarded or punished. Not everyone is capable of learning among people - some students may just be silent actors in school, pretending they’re focusing, and teach themselves everything at home. Physical presence does not mean mental presence. Also not everyone is capable of physical presence - chronically ill people miss school all the time and put in the work differently. For some people in classrooms that feel unsafe to them, missing class and doing the work on their own is a survival mechanism for their own well-being. What someone looks like in regards to [norms of what counts as] presence or participation often does not reflect that reality at all. Be flexible and patient.
Slide 5 - Equitable Grading - Our grading system was created on the assumption that there are only a certain percentage of students allowed to succeed, making it highly skewed toward “failure”. Research has also shown that grades, particularly low ones, both demotivate learning and motivate immoral behavior (i.e. cheating). They also dictate who gets to succeed in the world and who doesn’t. (Not to mention that our standards of intelligence/knowledge are particularly centered around white abled neurotypical cis-het norms, therefore permanently putting minority kids at a disadvantage) We don’t have the space here to tell you all the things about equitable grading and how it works because it is super nuanced and hyperspecific, but we highly recommend reading Grading For Equity by Joe Feldman or watching Sydney’s “Equitable Grading” deep dive video to get started. Also the website accessiblesyllabus.com is a great resource as well!
Slide 6 - Trauma-Informed Practices - TIPs are honestly one of the easiest accessibility measures to make and also one of the most effective for everyone, regardless of ability or minority. Here are the basics: Predictability & Consistency - make expectations clear, stick to a routine, explain what is happening and why, keep things on volunteer basis, and include content warnings (avoiding traumatizing content when unnecessary) This gives people some feeling of control, something to ground themselves so they’re more likely to stretch and learn. Flexibility - understand that students may be dealing with trauma in different ways both mentally and physically and that they may express this in different ways, all of which should be respected and understood. Teachers should be able and willing to adjust the course load and activities based on the general needs of the class (including noticing when a class is burnt out and needs an activity change).
Slide 7 - TIPs pt. 2 - Connection - nurture reliable, boundaried connections between people. This includes using proper names and pronouns, respecting when someone says no, and creating an environment where students feel safe to make mistakes, call people out for hurtful things, step out of their comfort zone, ask for help/admit they’re struggling, and set boundaries. Empowerment - encourage independence and student-led work. Not like “oh you just do it on your own bye!” or letting them flounder, but using proper scaffolding to give them the tools and confidence to do things on their own Understanding - not everyone will be able to open up or trust you - there may be some category of people they feel unsafe around because of trauma (personal or generational) - that’s ok. There is nothing wrong with that and that trust cannot be forced.
Slide 8 - Anti-Racist Practices - Accessibility is not just for disability! Inclusive & accessible teaching also covers queer-friendly practices (e.g. - get pronouns right), anti-racist practices, and many other things!With anti-racist practices, the thing to continuously remember is, if you’re not putting the thought into being actively anti-racist, you are defaulting to the [systemically racist] norm. And either way mistakes happen! But some things to do: decentralize whiteness and understand that white people are not, in fact, the norm and should not be treated as such / work to elevate BIPOC voices / let go of the savior complex / be aware of your implicit biases / do your research / acknowledge that you’re working within a system that is fundamentally broken
Slide 9 - Questions to keep in mind! - Who is included? Who is excluded? How am I incorporating multiple perspectives? How do my personal biases and worldview influence my expectations? How can I elevate the unheard and unseen in the room? How can I acknowledge that participation looks differently for everyone? How is this perpetuating stereotypes? Am I unwittingly promoting the work of racists and/or eugenicists? What are we holding onto from the dominant culture that we need to let go of? What messages are we sending about who and what does and does not matter? What is the purpose of this thing I’m teaching, what is the mechanism of that thing that gets a student from point A to point B, and how can I find several different ways to go about it in order to be more accessible?
Slide 10 - Sources

04/06/2023

Team Thursday! Meet the Cast - Toby

Toby (he/him, ) is a rat who is very real and not a “stuffed animal purchased online” like some people say. He is a year old. His scientific name is Rattus norvegicus domestic and he joined the production to honor his Rat Community and to participate in this story that uplifts rats and portrays them in a positive manner. His parents named him after the famous Toby Boone so he feels very at home in this production and is honored to fill this role. His favorite subject is history and his favorite food from Blanch is the berry yogurt. But he is only allowed to have it on special occasions because he gets yogurt everywhere. He is a big fan of Mount Holyoke and its fine brickwork. Toby is loving being in the show so far and is looking forward to the weeks ahead. The cast give good scratches during rehearsal 10/10

ID: Toby, a brown furry [stuffed] rat with pink ears and feet, stands with two feet up on a cream colored box in a dramatic pose under a tiny spotlight. The background is a blue and white floral patterned fabric