Tommy has been taking classes with CADA since we were at the Evans Building. He had been a part of various local autistic social groups and none of them had been quite the right fit, but "he feels that CADA gets it right." In fourth grade, he played the Narrator in a school play. "He was making up all these funny lines... and he was just kind of a natural!"
Tommy says he considers himself an actor, and that he's not as big on writing, which can be very time-consuming. When asked if this is why he has enjoyed Improv in the past, allowing him to think on his feet and respond in real time, he wisely said: "I let the mouth speak for itself."
Tommy's mom, Laura, said: "I had these two goals: (1) work on his social skills and (2) make friends. But I think a really big thing that I didn't expect is... he's so funny! And these classes are an opportunity for him to just be his funny self and kind of work on his comedy. It's just been such a good experience."
"We would get in the car on Saturday and we would drive over and just do drama. That was something that we shared, and it was really cool. So now he just gets on the phone. It was a little dicey [at first], but now he loves it. He has no qualms being on Zoom at all."
