Faculty Advisor(s)
Lori Charney
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a diagnosis that affects many school-aged children (CDC, 2025). Autistic children can have more difficulties engaging with both their peers and their families, which can lead to a lack of social participation. A World of Connection: ASD was a doctoral capstone project centering on social participation for autistic youth. The project blended the capstone student’s expanded knowledge in performing arts with their education in Occupational Therapy to create a 4-part capstone experience. A scoping review targeting the question “what are the most effective performing arts methods to enhance the social participation of autistic children” yielded 9 articles meeting all criteria. Key topics in these articles included using theater-based protocols, peer-mentorships, and overall confidence. Results that support a need for programming, which inspired two different programs. “Shine On Stage Right” targeted autistic children and used performing arts to offer social opportunities. This 12-week program offered participants the chance to explore aspects of social participation through performing arts games/activities, all with guidance from student volunteers. An educational video series was designed and provided to parents of this program’s participants to support carry-over learning. “ISP Social Cooking” was a program designed for college-aged students that explored social participation and self-advocacy through cooking and educational sessions. Advocacy was explored through consultative visits to a local community theater organization. The positive results of the capstone experience supported the already existing research. Quality improvement areas for the capstone were found in scheduling, retainment incentives, and increased usage of specialized equipment.
Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Poster
Department
Occupational Therapy
Keywords
occupational therapy, doctoral capstone, autism spectrum disorder, social participation, performing arts, pediatrics
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Occupational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Gayton, Morgan M., "A World of Connection: ASD" (2026). Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2026. 9.
https://digitalcommons.misericordia.edu/otd_capstone2026/9