For my senior distinction research project, I will focus on combining my interests into one project.  I have chosen to focus on the autism community, and how movement can aid in developmental aspects of that specific community of people.  I will work with a group of three to eight children and their parents/guardians and teach six to eight lessons once a week focused on movement and emotion. This builds on work and teaching that I conducted last year with a similar group of adults with mixed abilities. During the lessons, I will observe how emotions affect muscle memory and determine if emotions take a part in how the participating children with disabilities learn and remember what is happening.  I

I hypothesize that dance can be another form of communication within communities where there are non-verbal people.  I have observed that within my own life, dance was a way for me to communicate without using words, and it has provided a release for me in the past.  I am hoping that through this project children can learn this and be able to release emotions when there aren’t words that can be formed.  I anticipate several of my colleagues will take over the project upon my graduation. One of my goals for working with the community and utilizing the skills that I have learned at Ohio State is to inspire others to continue this important work of taking movement and dance as a way to enhance development of children on the spectrum.  I hope that when I come back to Ohio State as an alumnus, the program that I set in motion will live on in others.