Autistic License

A honest and courageous play now being performed at the Illusion Theater in downtown Minneapolis. This last weekend Patti (instructor), Scott (board member), Loren (volunteer) and I (Instructor in Training) went to see this play. I can't tell you all the ways it affected me... but I can tell you that you should see it.

It was, among many other things, a quick reminder to me how much we don't see. As volunteers and instructors and therapists we see an hour, sometimes only a half an hour, of the amazing lives our clients and their parents live. And it was amazing to see the workings of a REAL family's story of what their life is like at home. Visions of what the other 23 hours of the day, and the other 6 days of the week, all year long, look, sound and f e e l like.

I highly recommend it- it had all of us thinking about our roles in a new way. It's an amazing thing Stacey Dinner-Leven has given us with this play. Please PLEASE go see it and support it. And if that's not enough, Stacey sent an e-mail to We Can Ride specifically because she and her husband, Michael Paul Leven, used to bring their son to ride with us. Below is some more information, or you can go to the Illusion Theater's website at : http://www.illusiontheater.org/

Post by Jenni McCoy (Instructor in Training)

AUTISTIC LICENSE by Stacey Dinner-Levin
directed by Peter Moore: featuring Damon Brook, Camille D'Ambrose, Allen Hamilton, Ari Hoptman, Amy McDonald, Lynnea M. Doublette, Sally-Ann Wright and Michael Paul Levin
May 4 - 20, 2007

Reviews
"As a parent of an autistic child, this play hit the nail on the head. You laugh and cry. Anyone wondering what it is like to raise an autistic child should see this play. Outstanding." ~John, Audience Member

"This play is based upon our experience of raising a child with autism - the things that happened in our family - that were tragic, surreal and funny. This is the kind of stuff you can't make up! To me, theater was the perfect vehicle to tell this story and to give voice to all families living with disability." ~Stacey Dinner-Levin, playwright