Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training

Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training addresses some of the challenges met by acting students with dyslexia and highlights the abilities demonstrated by individuals with specific learning differences in actor training.

The book offers six tested teaching strategies, created from practical and theoretical research investigations with dyslexic acting students, using the methodologies of case study and action research. Utilizing Shakespeare’s text as a laboratory of practice and drawing directly from the voices and practical work of the dyslexic students themselves, the book explores:

the stress caused by dyslexia and how the teacher might ameliorate it through changes in their practice

the theories and discourse surrounding the label of dyslexia

the visual, kinaesthetic, and multisensory processing preferences demonstrated by some acting students assessed as dyslexic

acting approaches for engaging with Shakespeare’s language, enabling those with dyslexia to develop their authentic voice and abilities

a grounding of the words and the meaning of the text through embodied cognition, spatial awareness, and epistemic tools

Stanislavski’s method of units and actions and how it can benefit and obstruct the student with dyslexia when working on Shakespeare

Interpretive Mnemonics as a memory support and hermeneutic process, and the use of color and drawing towards an autonomy in live performance

This book is a valuable resource for voice and actor training, professional performance, and for those who are curious about emancipatory methods that support difference through humanistic teaching philosophies.

Author Biography

Dr. Petronilla Whitfield is Associate Professor in Voice and Acting at the Arts University Bournemouth, UK. She holds a PhD in Arts Pedagogy from Warwick University and an MA in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Trained originally as an actor at Arts Educational Schools, she was a professional actor for twenty years. She has taught voice and acting at leading British actor training institutions and universities for eighteen years.