Obstacles All Over the Place!

Yet another speed-bump on the Theater Major road. My son is taking a class in Movement for the Stage. As part of the final exam, the class will be doing a short presentation open to the public. However, not every student in the class will actually be on the stage and participating; my son is among a handful of students (though I don’t know how many others) who will not.

Question: how will the professor grade those not chosen to be in the show? Presumably, the fact that they are not going to be onstage is not a reflection of their competence or enthusiasm for the class. Are the students who will be on stage the ones who are very well coordinated – talented dancers (or “movers”)? Do these students get “As”, while those who are less talented get less than “As?”

There comes a time, and maybe this is what college is for, when that mantra we’ve given our children all of their lives – “Just try your best” – no longer applies. And learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities have to be considered. College is preparatory for the rest of their lives, and it is time to find out not only what they like to do, but also what they are good at.

My son really loves theater; he is a talented performer. But performance as a career is reserved for a very small number of people. He learned early in his college studies, that backstage work was not as appealing to him as being onstage, regardless of whether or not he was capable of succeeding at it.

For a young adult with Nonverbal Learning disability, my son is very well-rounded. He has a variety of interests and talents. He is currently leaning toward something in the Communications arena and I think he can be happy and successful with this option (even while acknowledging that it might not be his final choice!).