Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training

""Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia by Dr. Petronilla Whitfield provides a valuable addition to the small but growing number of publications in the field of neurodiversity and actor training [...] the book works on several different levels. Not only does it provide an insight into teaching strategies for working with dyslexic students, it also provides teacher-researchers with an excellent model for a research methodology, and, for non-research based teachers, it provides a valuable case study of student-led learning with the teacher as collaborator [...] Whitfield advocates for an approach to actor training that is student-led and research-based and that is attentive to the diverse needs of students, and flexible and open to change. Whitfield’s own work is a fine example of this approach and stands as a valuable model for future pedagogies of voice."" - Daron Oram, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London, UK ""Whitfield’s book is so very valuable not only because she is one of a few focusing on dyslexia in actor training, but because this book contributes to a vastly underdeveloped research area in actor training overall. Throughout, her investigation is rigorous and her findings insightful. This book should be included on the reading list of every teacher-training program for theatre and drama."" - Tara McAllister-Viel, Theatre Topics, UK ""This landmark book will be a welcome addition to the toolkit of countless teachers and actor trainers who work with students with a range of learning needs, specifically those with dyslexia who are engaging with the texts of Shakespeare [...] the work done by Whitfield over many years and painstakingly documented in this book deserves commendation [...] As an educator who has worked and still works in more traditional learning environments where change is slow to come, though, I appreciate the immense value in the work documented in Whitfield’s book."" - Janet Gibson, Theatre, Dance and Performance Training ""This book sits in a wider emerging discourse on the neurodiversity of student performers, and its effect on the field of actor training. Whitfield’s contribution is important because not only does the subject matter have a far-reaching scope in that it looks to make the act of speaking Shakespeare more inclusive and engaging for those that might have previously been alienated by such, but it also serves as an accessible roadmap to conducting research within a pedagogical setting. It is incredibly useful not only for the teacher and the researcher, but also for the student; such is its accessibility."" - Denis Cryer-Lennon, University of South Wales, Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, Volume 5, Number 2 ""In Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training – Sensing Shakespeare, Dr Whitfield offers the reader accessible neurodiversity/dyslexia and dramaturgical theory for drama and specific learning differences for educators to explore and connect to their teaching practice. […] Dr Whitfield’s research is a testament to the powerful role that multisensory strategies can play in strengthening memory and learning. It highlights the importance of promoting learner autonomy, inclusion, providing a social learning space, and a reminder that the learner is the expert of their learning processes."" - Denise Aitken, Dyslexia Review