Our first show for Autistic young people
Conference of the Birds (2004). Mel McCree, Mark Foster, DJ Hassan, Baz Kasselle, Ruth Calkin summon up the Wind. Gemma Riggs controls the video. Photo: Tim Webb
The Perfect Present: Big Book (1995). Big Book to prepare very young audience for the show. Written by Tim Webb. Illustrated by Claire de Loon.
Boing! toured specialist schools, and like most of our shows, played largely to audiences labelled as having profound and multiple learning disabilities. One school asked if some Autistic students could use the trampoline equipment during their lunch break, which set the company thinking further about how to make work that was inclusive of neurodivergent young people. The result was Conference of the Birds.
Since 1986 and Up on the Roof, the company have created shows that start before they begin: meaning, resources for audiences accompany each performance, to build anticipation for, and familiarity with, each show, and to extend its legacy afterwards. This started with illustrated booklets for teachers, parents and play workers, containing the show’s narrative and worksheets, and developed into The Big Books – large format books of the story of the show to be read to a whole class.
Over time, the supporting resources sent out included soundtracks, sensory sessions, objects of reference, sample props, timelines, videos, online games and more, all developed in consultation with our advisory teachers and feedback from parents and schools. We tried lots of different formats and new technology as it became available, always trying to keep the resources as interactive and multi-sensory as possible.
When we began making shows for Autistic young people, discussions with specialist school staff introduced us to the concept of Social Stories. The first video and printed Social Story was for Conference of the Birds. These visual guides have become an important part of the accompanying resources we share alongside each show, which continue to evolve and develop.