Access for autistic student-actors: interrogating the role of empathy within actor-training methods

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Metadata sources used for this reference

OpenAlex Crossref BibTeX OpenCitations
Learn more about the sources used

Glen, Z. (2023). Access for autistic student-actors: interrogating the role of empathy within actor-training methods. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 14(1), 57-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443927.2022.2095428

Publication date: 2 Jan 2023 Added to AutiHub: 9 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Zoë Glen *

Abstract

In this paper I, as an autistic actor-trainer who was once an autistic student-actor, explore some of the access issues faced by autistic student-actors. I look at the practices commonly taught on actor-training programmes, and uncover what exclusionary ‘dominant narratives’ they hold, and why these create issues for autistic students. This paper focuses specifically on the example of empathy, asking how it is used within the practices of Stanislavski and Meisner, among others. This research moves away from the deficit model of autism. Instead, I look to autistic experience – my own and that of others – to investigate what acknowledging, welcoming, and maximising upon these experiences can contribute to these actor-training practices. The result is an example adaptation, where I reframe actor-training exercises to be more accessible for autistic students and consider what benefits these changes might have for all actors within the space. This paper is timely as it follows on from other research into training actors with dyslexia and dyspraxia, and moves to address the absence of writing on training autistic actors. By positioning itself within the neurodiversity paradigm it questions what contributions autistic experience could make to the field of actor-training, if disabling barriers were removed.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 17 Oct 2026 01:28.

Cited references
30
With a DOI
21
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
9
4 / 30 (13.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
7 / 30 (23.3%)
References with detected author names
24 / 30 (80.0%)
Without detected author names
6
Without a structured title
6
Without a stable identifier
9
References with raw author names still to review
5
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
46
From DOI or external metadata
46
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
5
14 / 46 (30.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 32 / 46 (69.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
4 / 46 (8.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 4 / 14 (28.6%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 3 / 43 (7.0%).
  1. (2008). The complete Stanislavsky toolkit . Choice Reviews Online, 45(10), 45-5458-45-5458. American Library Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.5860/choice.45-5458 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W637895019
    OpenAlex
  2. S. Baron-Cohen (2001). CIT0001 Prisme, 34.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  3. Shaun Gallagher , Julia Gallagher (2020). Acting Oneself as Another: An Actor’s Empathy for her Character . Topoi, 39(4), 779-790. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11245-018-9624-7 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2910665548
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  5. S. Baron-Cohen (2009). Autism: The Empathizing–Systemizing (E‐S) Theory . Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156(1), 68-80. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04467.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2028758511
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  6. Alison Hodge (2000). Actor Training . Studies in Theatre and Performance, 20(3), 184-187. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/14682761.2000.10807037 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2321182396
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  7. Deborah Carolyn Leveroy (2013). Enabling performance: dyslexia, (dis)ability and ‘reasonable adjustment’ . Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 4(1), 87-101. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/19443927.2012.748687 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2012167517
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  8. Bartow Arthur. (2008). Handbook of Acting Techniques . Handbook of Acting Techniques.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  9. Daron Oram (2018). Losing sight of land: tales of dyslexia and dyspraxia in psychophysical actor training . Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 9(1), 53-67. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/19443927.2017.1415955 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2791821342
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  10. Emma Gee , Matt Hargrave (2011). A proper actor? The politics of training for learning disabled actors . Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 2(1), 34-53. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/19443927.2011.545252 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2027288392
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  12. Victoria E. A. Brunsdon , Emma Colvert , Catherine Ames , Tracy Garnett , Nicola Gillan , Victoria Hallett et al. (2015). Exploring the cognitive features in children with autism spectrum disorder, their co‐twins, and typically developing children within a population‐based sample . Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(8), 893-902. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12362 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2028888536
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  13. Benjamin M.P. Cuff , Sarah J. Brown , Laura Taylor , Douglas J. Howat (2016). Empathy: A Review of the Concept . Emotion Review, 8(2), 144-153. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1754073914558466 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2325035506
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  16. Lorna Wing , Judith Gould , Christopher Gillberg (2011). Autism spectrum disorders in the DSM-V: Better or worse than the DSM-IV? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(2), 768-773. Elsevier BV.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2010.11.003 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2158370300
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  17. Aphrodite Evangelatou (2021). Konstantin Stanislavski and Michael Chekhov: tracing the two practitioners’ “lures” for emotional activation . Stanislavski Studies, 9(1), 21-39. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/20567790.2020.1772550 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3035800988
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  18. Chi-Lin Yu , Tai-Li Chou (2018). A Dual Route Model of Empathy: A Neurobiological Prospective . Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2212-2212. Frontiers Media SA.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02212 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2899799780
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  19. Shaun May (2017). Autism and comedy: using theatre workshops to explore humour with adolescents on the spectrum . Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), 436-445. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/13569783.2017.1329651 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2636429753
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  20. Philippa Strandberg-Long (2018). Mapping Meisner – how Stanislavski’s system influenced Meisner’s process and why it matters to British Drama School training today . Stanislavski Studies, 6(1), 11-19. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/20567790.2018.1437956 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2792815657
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  21. (n.d.). Huxley-Jones, Lizzie. 2021. Stim: An Autism Anthology. Accessed October 5. https://unbound.com/books/stim/ .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  22. Jessie Poquérusse , Luigi Pastore , Sara Dellantonio , Gianluca Esposito (2018). Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder: A complex relationship . Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1196. Frontiers Media SA.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01196 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2809158900
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  23. (n.d.). Layle. 2021. What Is Masking? | Autism & How Masking Makes Me Feel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcfnqV7G0YI .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  24. (n.d.). McLaughlin, James. 2020. “Against the Canon.” Theatre, Dance and Performance Training Blog. http://theatredanceperformancetraining.org/category/comebacks/against-the-canon/ .
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  25. Petronilla Whitfield (2019). Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9780429458590 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4253987674
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  26. Merlin Bella. (2014). The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit . The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  27. Petronilla Whitfield (2021). Inclusivity and Equality in Performance Training . Routledge.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4324/9781003125808 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3200739109
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  28. (n.d.). National Autistic Society. 2016. The Autism Employment Gap.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  29. Stanislavski Constantin. (2013). An Actor Prepares . An Actor Prepares.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  30. (n.d.). The Limitless Pilot. 2021. “The Limitless Pilot.” Accessed October 5. http://www.limitlesspilot.co.uk/ .
    Type: Other
    Crossref