This is a special extended (podcast-only) episode of Your Improv Brain on neurodivergent inclusion in the improv community. These episodes will focus on inclusion, nervous system regulation, and help neurodivergent improvisers understand themselves and help non-neurodivergent improvisers work better with their teammates and students.

This is the first one. Hi!

Think about the best improv team you've ever seen. That team where everyone seemed to know when to step in and when to hold back. That connection didn't come from scenework. It came from the offstage work of actually knowing each other. Jen talks about what it feels like, as an autistic person, to carry the belief that you're a burden in every space you enter. She names where that feeling shows up in improv (hint: it's rarely onstage), what autistic improvisers bring to a team, what's genuinely harder for us, and what teammates can do to include everyone equally. The episode ends with a team inclusion exercise called "What I Need From You" and a solo version you can try on your own.

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Key Takeaways

1. The burden belief often starts early in life and gets carried into every space, including improv, whether you realize it or not.
2. For many autistic improvisers, scenes feel safe because they have structure, but unstructured social time (group chats, hangouts after shows, pre-rehearsal mingling) is where the burden feeling lives.
3. Autistic improvisers bring different pattern recognition, a willingness to name injustice, and perspectives that make scenes richer and teams stronger.
4. Autism is a communication difference, and non-autistic people do not have a more correct way of communicating; both are valid, and the effort to bridge that gap should come from everyone.
5. The fastest way to confirm someone's burden belief is to only engage with them when they're useful and go silent when they need support.

Chapters

00:00 — The best improv team you've ever seen

02:06 — This episode is about the offstage part

02:31 — The video that stopped me scrolling

03:35 — Who this episode is for

05:18 — Where the burden belief comes from

07:57 — Where this shows up in improv spaces

10:17 — The evidence problem

12:22 — What autistic improvisers bring to a team

13:47 — Communication differences

16:46 — What you can do as a teammate

21:17 — Team exercise: What I Need From You

22:46 — Caveats for running the exercise

24:08 — Solo version

26:00 — Closing

Resources

The video I watched: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2189375501869990

Downloadable content

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About

This podcast was created, written, and is hosted by Jen deHaan. You can find her bio here.

This episode was and edited and produced by StereoForest.com.

This podcast was made in British Columbia, Canada by StereoForest Podcasts.

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