In Oregon, actors with autism create "Oz" parody

From KVAL:

EUGENE, Ore. - A cast of characters will showcase more than heart and courage in a special production of "The Land of Oz" at the Hult Center on Friday night.

It's a parody in directors call the land of "Oz"-pergers, highlighting the unique skills and challenges children with Asperger's syndrome or autism experience everyday.

The show starts at 7 p.m. Friday at the Hult Center, a fundraiser for Bridgeway House on the first day of Autism Awareness Month.

Tickets are $6 for kids, $10 for adults.

For nearly a dozen actors in the show, the show is designed as therapy to embrace the emotional and sensory needs of autism.

"We are in no way trying to make light of those features of autism," said director Emily Jensen, "but to acknowledge them and bring them into the light and say this is a real thing, this is a thing that exists here in our community that a lot of people are affected by."