Character List – “Life On The Spectrum: A Love Story”

Meghan – Late 20’s, she is the catalyst for the creation of the play world. She is both outside the world, as interview/writer, and a part of the world, as the sibling of someone with Autism. Also plays the role of the game show host.

Woman 1 – Like the rest of the cast she wears all black. Plays the roles of Maria, Anne and Robyn.

Woman 2 – Plays the roles of Karin, Mary, Laurie and Linda.

Man 1 – Plays the roles of Rep. Sturla, James and Game Show Contestant.

Man 2 – Plays the roles of Speaker O’Brien and Kevin.

Character’s Identifying Prop or Costume Piece:

Meghan - wears business casual attire, hair back, glasses.

Game Show Host – Take hair down, no glasses.

Maria – business blazer, any color but black

Anne – Over-sized 1970’s style glasses

Robyn – Corn flower blue button down shirt, fitted

Karin – Man’s white oxford style shirt

Mary – Deep green sweat, loose fitting

Laurie – an apron with the top half left to hang around her hips

Linda - Carmel or similar colored duster length sweater

Rep. Stura – Thick red tie

James – Thin blue tie and black glasses

Game Show Contestant – Obnoxious Hawaiian or similarly styled shirt

Speaker O’Brien – Dark gray suit jacket and tie (not specific.)

Correct! Next question: True or False: Every person with Autism possesses genius intelligence and special abilities, like card counting or the ability to play music by ear.

Man

            That’s easy. True.

Host

            Buzz

I’m sorry, but the correct answer is False. Despite images of genius intelligence and Savant skills shown in T.V. and movies like “Rainman,” all Individuals with Autism do not have these abilities. True or False: Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls.

Man

            True.

Host

Correct. Although there is no definitive answer as to why, Autism affects four times as many boys as it does boys. True or False: People with Autism do not know how to have friends and have no interest in making them.

Man

            True.

Host

False. Although Individuals with Autism may experience social interaction differently than “typical” people does not mean they don’t crave understanding and friendship. Many people with Autism can and do enjoy meaningful friendships.  Next question. True or False: If you know one person with Autism you have a pretty good understanding of Autism in general.

Man

False. Meeting an Individual with Autism is just that. Meeting an Individual. Autism is a Spectrum Disorder, meaning that it affects everyone differently.

Host

            Ding, ding, ding

Correct.

            Bong, bong

That’s the bell telling me it’s time for your final question. True or False: Bad or indulgent parenting is the real cause of Autism and a little “tough love” would go a long way to straightening these kids out.

Man

False.

Host

            Ding ding, ding.

Congratulations! That is correct! Autism is a neurological condition and though researchers have not yet been able to pinpoint the exact cause, blaming the parents is as ridiculous as blaming the parents of a child who has Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy or any other disability!

Lights shift. Mary comes down center. She is lit by a spot. Meghan and Man 2 quietly return to their seats as Mary begins to speak.

Mary

You know, as long as I was able to fit him in the seat – it was better. I could -- it would allow me to facilitate my movement through the grocery store more easily or he’d really run away. As we’d go through the [store] we would name things – “cookies” and he would say “cookies,” and he would put it in the basket or whatever. So we tried to make this into a learning experience for him. Um – he was a grabber. And there were always things in my cart at the end of the (laughs) – that I never knew how they got there. And there were occasions when the spaghetti sauce got tossed onto the ground or something like that. So we had some pretty understanding folks… And there were a few occasions when we had people who were less than understanding. You know, I really needed for a period of time to be able to use handicapped parking, because it was such a project to safely get my children from the car into the store and back again. And, um, so I would be scolded because it was less apparent that there was something going on with my son than with other individuals.  We had handicapped tags, but I think people thought that I was just misusing some tags that were meant for somebody else. And there was one occasion where Chris had some real difficulty and I remember he –

Spot up on Man 3 as Chris. He is in the early stages of a “meltdown.” He covers his ears, flails his limbs about and hits himself in the face, etc. As Mary speaks it becomes more intense until he also making distressed noises. Mary continues to tell her story over the commotion.

It was a crowded day and I was sort of trying to hold him in the cart and he kept scratching at me and so my face was bleeding (chuckles) and we’re standing in line. And I’m trying to think, ‘do I just abandon everything and leave?’ And he knew that he needed to get himself together. And he was saying:

Mary and Chris

“Calm down. Calm down.” (Chris is trying to pull himself together, but to no avail)

Mary

But he couldn’t do it. And [everyone] in the store was looking at us and thinking this was just a child tantruming. And the cashier came out and put her hands on her hips and just stared at me like

Chuckling as she demonstrates a disapproving look and shakes her head.

As if I… It’s the worst kind of center of attention.

            Beat. Light goes down on Chris.

I’m making him sound so – he’s really a wonderful person and so sweet and so – and a joy to be around…

            Beat

So I made a phone call when I got home and said, you know, he’s not the only child like this. There are lots of kids in the communities and you have to be aware of it and sensitive and recognize that, you know? 

Mary returns to her seat. As Mary crosses, Kevin begins to speak from his seat.

Kevin

Do you know anything about the AIDS movement? [I work for the Social Security Administration] and before AIDS was identified as this retrovirus, it was just ignored. It was fully ignored. People were just dying. Of these things like chicken pox, uh, shingles, all kinds of infections. And our doctor would say, “But no one dies from these things. So we can’t give them benefits for it.” Eight months later you’d come back and they had died. And the doctors were doing something they’d never learned in school and they’d say, “Well, this is impossible.” It wasn’t until they did special research, understanding what this virus was, that anything started to change. And the government was basically forced into doing this by a group of very active people; a lot of them affected by AIDS themselves. Through a group of street activists and a separate, but philosophically if not actually connected group working behind the scenes politically. We haven’t had the same kind of approach with Autism. And why not? I mean, if the kids with Autism could be as active – they would be, you know, in congress. But they can’t. And the parents are limited with that, too, because they’re taking care of these kids.

Kevin rises and crosses to the lip of the stage at center, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out an Autism awareness ribbon that he pins to his chest. Simultaneously, the rest of the cast produces baskets of the ribbons, exit from the stage and begin to pass them down the aisles for audience members to take. Kevin crosses to the prop table, takes off his vest and puts on a conductor’s hat and crosses to Meghan, who sits on the two seats in front of her desk like they are train seats. She is writing in the journal from her desk. She does not look up until he speaks.

Conductor

            Ticket, please.

                        Meghan hands it to him

Conductor

            Where are you going?

Meghan

            Harrisburg.

Conductor

            Enjoy your ride.

He punches the ticket and walks off. Meghan resumes writing and speaking what she writes.

I’m on my way to interview Rep. Mike Sturla. It’s so strange for me. Going to the Capitol building, interviewing a State Representative… A couple I interviewed a few weeks ago called all the new cases of Autism being reported “the wave.” Sometimes, I feel like I’m caught in a tidal wave. I want to interview everyone who’s contacted me. But how do you do that? I’m just one person and I’ve gotten 57 responses to my ad and counting.

Meghan crosses to the desk, except she sits on the outside and waits for the interviewee.

Rep. Sturla

Rep. Sturla crosses to his seat behind the desk. They shake hands, she places the recorder between them and they begin their interview.

Meghan

            Representative Sturla, what’s your son’s name?

Rep. Sturla

            Peter.

Meghan

            And how old is he?

Rep. Sturla

            Twelve.

Meghan

            What is Peter’s exact diagnosis?

Rep. Sturla

            PDD-NOS, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified.

Meghan

            Can you tell me a little bit about the services Peter receives outside of school?

Rep. Sturla

He’s got a TSS who comes every day. He’s had sensory stuff. He’s had occupational therapy for fine motor skills. Speech and language therapy. He’s got all sorts of charts all over the house. And, you know, it really comes down to the individuals that are working with him, at least from what I’ve seen. He’s had – he had one Therapeutic Support Staff person, or TSS, that was with him for three years. And she could get him to do stuff that no one else could. And it was just the respect that she had built up with him. And the problem with TSS’s is that they come and go so quickly. And then he tests them to try and see whether he can – you know, exit them as quickly as possible. I mean, I think if somebody knew that they could be upwardly mobile, uh, remaining a TSS, if they thought that, you know, Gee, in year one I get, you know, my $8.00 an hour but in year four, I get $11.00. And, you know, they might stick around with a kid for the whole process. But they look at it and they say, you know, I can go work at McDonald’s and make as much money. And yes, this has some rewards but it’s (sort of chuckles) frustrating sometimes, also, you know? 

The Nintendo “Mario Brothers” theme music begins to play. The Donkey Kong” music and the “Legend of Zelda” then join in to create a video game cacophony, which underscores the scene. Linda, Laurie and James come down center. Man 3 comes slightly upstage of them carrying a video game controller and sits cross-legged on the floor. His back is to the audience and he furiously plays for the entirety of the next scene. The parents watch their child for a moment, sharing him as their own. For the majority of the scene, they are in their own realities.

James

See, the problem with having him at home is everybody’s busy, you know? My wife and I both work. We have to work – to support everyone. And the kids are all busy with other activities. So it’s easy for Aaron to get plopped in front of the TV. At his current school there are no TV’s on the entire campus. So they really keep him busy and engaged with other activities. It’s the most incredible school and I’m upset because it’s his last year [there.] So we’re in this really precarious position, because he’s been in this school that really is like a miraculous place and this is it. It ends in a matter of months.

Linda

Right now services are pretty much non-existent for adults with Autism. A lot of the organizations that are cropping up right now are doing fundraising for research. [They are] being spearheaded by parents with young children, and that’s why their emphasis is on finding a cure. But I think more funding has to go to services.

Laurie

I never thought I would see the day that I could [leave Logan alone.] But you know, [he’s 17 now and] in the last two years he has a key to the house. Sometimes I’ll come home from work 10 or 15 minutes after he comes home from school and he’ll be sitting at the dining room table. He’ll start his homework. He might grab a snack, chips or something and it’s like, well this is great. But the one day I was a little bit later, like I was 20 minutes, and it made me really nervous. But I’m like, he was fine before; he’s fine. Then I drove up my street and in front of my house were two huge trucks from the gas company in front of my house.

James

I would like to say, ‘sure we could chuck our TV and just have sing-a-longs every night.’ But the reality is when you’ve got other kids it just doesn’t work that way.

Laurie

There were people in front of my house trying to get inside because of a gas leak and they couldn’t find it.

Linda

When Tim was in school, I mean he was in school. He left early in the morning – gosh, he traveled so far he left like 6:30 in the morning and wasn’t home until maybe 4:00 in the afternoon. He had a full day. He had people to talk to. He had things to do. He had a routine and he had schedules. When he finished school he had nothing. He came home to absolutely nothing. Finally, we managed to get him a part-time job, three days a week, three hours a day. Wasn’t perfect; wasn’t exactly enough; but it was something at least to give him good self-esteem and it was enough, I guess, to keep us all happy. Until he lost his job coach and then he lost his job.

Laurie

My neighbor had just happened to retire that year and he was home and knew Logan, but I thought, Logan would not have known to leave that house if he walked in and smelled gas.

James

And I would like to see Aaron close by, so we could still see him regularly and he could still be part of our lives. I think he would have a lot more independence that way than living at home. So that would be – that would be the ideal. Is that achievable? Well, let’s hope. But, umm, it’s easier said than done.