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MeloJag
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25 Feb 2010, 11:04 pm

Has anyone taken improv or acting classes to try to improve their social skills? Did you gain anything? Was it useless? Please share your experiences.



chaotik_lord
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25 Feb 2010, 11:14 pm

I loved improv; I was known as a supporting player who would, upon occasion, say the funniest thing ever "Jellybean CPR!" comes to mind.

I also acted.

Acting improved my expressions and speech; the teachers, coaches, and directors were just like my therapists in that regard, and they are used to correcting NTs precisely, so anyone can benefit. Improv did neither much, but it felt more like fun. It's okay to be unexpected and laughed at in improv, which helped my esteem more.

In the end, the only acting that I excelled at was Shakespeare, where nuance was less important than grasp of the material. I was also told my cadence was perfect, which surprised me, but makes sense in a way, as the words themselves become like clothes.

And I doubt that makes sense to others, so I apologize.



Brittany2907
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26 Feb 2010, 12:05 am

I took acting classes in my first year of middle school. However this was not to improve my social skills but because I had to choose between 3 extracurricular activities - Acting, playing a musical instrument or participating in a team sport. I was terrible at acting and quit after a few classes. I just couldn't seem to cohese into the group. I wish I chose to play an instrument instead.


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E-Wreck
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26 Feb 2010, 12:20 am

I LOVE acting! Actings great! I'm actually going to an arts high school to learn more about theater (Although, I'm going to try and audition for photography next school year since I love photography and this high school has an AMAZING curricular in it!). And yes, I used to be HORRIBLE at social skills. I've actually been acting since I was 7 but that was only little school stuff until I was like 10 when I started doing community theater musicals. When I was 12, I tool a break from acting. When I was 14, somebody I know asked if I was auditioning for "The Jungle Book" and I had no idea about it but decided I should since I hadn't acted for a while. When I 1st started working with that theater organization, the other actors (The ones around my age) weren't very tolerant of me much. But, the next play after that, things started getting better, and in the next season of their shows, I made a LOT of friends and actually very good friends. But yes, theater definetly helped me gain skills! And, I'm actually wanting to become a Special Education teacher and actually buy an office space to use, so that I can make a group to help higher functioning kids learn skills like emotional, communication, ect. through acting. Acting has been proven to help kids learn social skills.



pgd
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30 Oct 2010, 1:05 pm

MeloJag posted: Has anyone taken improv or acting classes to try to improve their social skills? Did you gain anything? Was it useless? Please share your experiences.
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As a very young child (about eight), I took a few classes in Children's Theater (parent's idea). That's where I became aware of very subtle memory - paying attention - concentration difficulties and very subtle perception difficulties which only years later were correctly identified as ADHD Inattentive including central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). At that time, the classes did zero to improve my social skills at all. I was able to play a very small role in a play (Alice in Wonderland) as one of the two characters, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, simply because the part took less than a minute on stage; also, I could not completely remember my lines and the stage director whispered them to me from off stage. Today I use a FDA approved stimulant - alerting agent - for ADHD Inattentive which allows me to pay attention better (not a cure) so I do see the big picture a little better and comprehend exactly what happened years ago. The med for ADHD Inattentive (contains 100 mg caffeine/other ingredients) literally allows me to see and hear things a little more accurately which is most helpful. Since that time, I have taken one or two very short sales courses which cued me into how sales presentations are structured and why they work for some salespersons/some customers. At the same time, there is still enough of a residual to my ADHD Inattentive (from birth) that the social flow/conversation flow is not 100% smooth for me, however, I do comprehend what the process is supposed to be/is for a lot of persons where the whole process is automatic since they do not have ADHD Inattentive or very subtle auditory processing challenges. Acting requires sustained attention and subtle neurological challenges such as ADHD Inattentive, central auditory processing disorder, petit mal/absence (etc.) can easily interfere with a normal, seamless continuity process.



GaijinRanger
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30 Oct 2010, 2:07 pm

I took some acting classes in college. While it was fun, I wasn't necessarily the best with improv.

However, with anything scripted, I ran with it and oftentimes had the whole class in stitches. I don't know if I'd ever consider acting as a career... It would be cool to see myself in a movie, but I'm afraid my own self-criticism would eat me alive.

@Chaotik Lord: Awesome avatar. Moss is my favorite guy from the IT Crowd. [/thumbs up]



hyperlexian
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30 Oct 2010, 2:10 pm

i took lots of acting classes and have done some public speaking. it has helped me a lot with confidence.


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the_curmudge
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30 Oct 2010, 6:02 pm

Acting and public speaking are both enjoyable to me. They are impersonal and scripted and involve social interaction without the intimacy I find so hard to handle. Improv would probably be a different matter--my blood pressure went up as I wrote the word.



Kaybee
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30 Oct 2010, 10:54 pm

I took an "oral interpretation" class in college. It was basically orally performing written works (stories, poems). I found it to be immensely helpful. By the end of the course, I was much more comfortable speaking, being the center of attention, and being expressive. Especially that last part; I probably couldn't have vocally expressed emotion prior to that class to save my life, but within a few months, I was doing so with ease, and the ability has stayed with me.


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